


Skating Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

by Junliet



Series: Skating Wars [2]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Death, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Some Fluff, Star Wars AU, Unhappy Ending, some violence, war mentions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21963688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Junliet/pseuds/Junliet
Summary: It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Although the Death Star has been destroyed, Imperial troops have driven the Rebel forces from their hidden base and pursued them across the galaxy.Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet, a group of freedom fighters led by Keiji Takahashi has established a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth.The evil lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Takahashi, has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of space...
Relationships: Javier Fernández/Yuzuru Hanyu
Series: Skating Wars [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1399579
Comments: 3
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mybigfatcat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mybigfatcat/gifts).



> Welcome to the second story in the trilogy! I didn't intend to start this so soon but it just kind of happened, so please enjoy it! If you know how Empire goes... sorry! If you don't, oh boy, strap yourselves in for a wild ride.
> 
> Character list (for reference. Not including the big spoiler here):  
> Luke: Keiji  
> Han: Javier  
> Leia: Yuzuru  
> C3PO: Miki  
> R2-D2: Shoma  
> Chewbacca: Sergei  
> Lando: Patrick  
> Yoda: Satoko  
> Obi-wan: Brian
> 
> Please enjoy, and thank you so much for reading this! Big thanks go to the lovely, the amazing, the wonderful mybigfatcat for all their love, help, and inspiration <3

_It is a dark time for the Rebellion. Although the Death Star has been destroyed, Imperial troops have driven the Rebel forces from their hidden base and pursued them across the galaxy._

_Evading the dreaded Imperial Starfleet, a group of freedom fighters led by Keiji Takahashi has established a new secret base on the remote ice world of Hoth._

_The evil lord Darth Vader, obsessed with finding young Takahashi, has dispatched thousands of remote probes into the far reaches of space..._

Flying through a mass of space far from many other planets, was a huge star destroyer ship. From the gap on the bottom where ships were normally pulled in or left, hundreds of probe droids were deposited into the vastness of space. They flew off in several directions, one of which travelled almost halfway across the galaxy before it crashed down on an icy white and blue planet, colliding with the ground in an explosion of white snow and grey smoke. From the crater, a little black probe droid rose up and floated around the planet, scanning the area. Nearby, running around near red markers from light sources, was a white creature that looked similar to a goat or a llama crossed with a kangaroo. It crossed the ice, stopping as the figure bundled up on its back and wrapped up in a thick white coat and scarf shifted their balance. They lowered the scarf covering their nose and mouth before they lifted their goggles. Keiji then squinted around, looking at the snow covered horizon. His eyes narrowed when he saw something else fall into the system and hit the ground not too far from him with another explosion of black smoke and rock mixed with white snow. Reaching for his electrobinoculars from his utility belt, he scanned the area and chewed his lip with half a frown. Through the cloud of snow that was thrown up, the area was too foggy for him to really get a good look at anything. He sighed before he swept the snow off the side of his glove and pressed three of the buttons.

"Echo three to Echo seven. Javi, old buddy, do you read me?"

Javier's voice crackled through the commlink. "Loud and clear kid. What's up?"

"Well, I've finished my circle. I don't pick up any life readings."

"There isn't enough life on this ice cube to fill a space cruiser. Sensors are in place, so I'm going back."

"Right, I'll see you shortly. There's a meteorite that hit the ground near here. I want to check it out. It won't take long."

As Keiji turned off the commlink and was about to take the reigns of the creature again, she started braying and squeaking, trying to buck him off. Keiji patted her long furry neck carefully, trying to calm her down.

"Steady! Hey, steady girl. What's the matter? Do you smell something?"

Keiji glanced behind him and barely had time to blink as a huge furry white creature with long, sharp fangs appeared behind him out of the blizzard and swept him off the creature, slashing at the side of his face with its long claws as it knocked him out. It then strangled the animal he had been riding on before it dragged both, unconscious, through the ice and snow away from the base.

At the mouth of a huge cave, another of the creatures with someone riding on the back ran past the control gun towers and past the shield doors that were currently open. Inside, they ran past people milling about, trying to repair speeders and x-wing ships as well as do general repairs and set up other equipment. The creature stopped and Javier slid off it, pulling down the hood of his dark grey coat and taking off his white snow goggles before he shook some of the snow off his gloves. Other members of the Rebellion took his creature for him, and he walked back over to his ship.

"Sergei!" he called up to the wookie, who was sitting up atop the Falcon soldering and welding bits of metal with a hand held torch. "Sergei!"

The wookie stood and growled at him, gesturing wildly as anger laced his raws. Javier held his hands up, shaking his head a little.

"Alright, don't lose your temper at me! I'll come right back and give you a hand."

Sergei, temporarily placated by that, turned back his repair work on the ship as Javier kept peeling of his winter coat and headed further into the Rebel base that had been set up well within the cave on the system. He had on a much thicker black jacket over the top of his white shirt that he straightened out before stopping next to one of the older men who was in front of a screen, fiddling with the dials behind it. Unknown to Javier, watching him from across the room was Yuzuru, who was pretending to focus on what the lady next to him was talking about.

"Fernandez," the man said, looking up from the dials to look over at the other.

"No sign of life out there, General. The sensors are in place, so you'll know if anything comes around."

"Commander Takahashi reported in yet?"

"No," Javier shook his head, brown curls bouncing lightly, "he's checking out a meteorite that hit the ground near him."

"With all the meteor activity in this system, it's going to be difficult to spot approaching ships."

"General I have to leave. I can't stay anymore," Javier said, with almost regret lacing his words. He stood and spoke firmly though as the general straightened up and looked at him full on.

"I'm sorry to hear that Fernandez."

"Well, there's a price on my head," Yuzuru from across the room flinched at the words that almost blended into the background noise of the room but stood out enough to him, "if I don't pay off Jabba the Hutt, I'm a dead man."

The general nodded in understanding, smiling almost kindly. "A death mark's not an easy thing to live with." He held out a hand to Javier that the other shook firmly. "You're a good fighter, Fernandez. I hate to lose you, and thank you for your service for these three years."

"Thank you General," Javier bowed his head to him lightly before he turned.

Across the room, Yuzuru very slowly turned around to catch Javier's eye, and they stared at each other for a moment. The captain then approached him before he stopped, right in front of the other.

"Well, Your Highness, guess this is it."

Yuzuru nodded, expression tight and not revealing anything. "That's right."

Javier almost rolled his eyes at the other's response as he started walking off. "Well, don't get all mushy on me. So long, Prince."

Yuzuru sighed, eyes narrowing as Javier walked out of the room. He pardoned himself politely to the lady talking to him before he stormed out, into the hallway.

"Javier!" He marched out, following the other as his firm tone and harsh glare stopped the other in his tracks. The captain turned and raised an eyebrow at Yuzuru as they stood in the hallway made of ice together.

"Yes, Your Highnessness?" Yuzuru stalked up to him until he was standing very close to Javier, so close that the captain could almost feel his glare.

"I thought you had decided to stay."

"Well, the bounty hunter we ran into on Ord Mantell changed my mind--"

"Javier, we need you!"

Javier looked almost taken aback. "We need?"

"Yes," Yuzuru nodded, tone as if it was the mot obvious thing in the world.

Javier looked at him, face full of confusion as he pointed to the other. "But what about _you_ need."

" _I_ need?" Yuzuru wrinkled his nose in confusion as he studied Javier's face for a clue. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Javier clicked his tongue before he shook his head. "You probably don't." He retorted before he started walking back down the corridor.

"And what precisely am I supposed to know?" Yuzuru snapped as he tried to keep up with the other despite being shorter than him.

"Come on. You want me to stay because of the way you feel about me."

"Yes! You're a great help to us. You're a natural leader!" Yuzuru jogged lightly to keep up with Javier as the captain rolled his eyes and stopped, rounding on Yuzuru.

"No. That's not it. Come on." He pointed to himself, and, as the pair leaned apart to let someone carrying a box pass between them in the hallway, Yuzuru's mouth fell open in realisation. Javier smirked and laughed. "A-ha! Come on." He pointed to himself again.

Yuzuru shook his head in disgust. "You're imagining things."

"Am I? Then why are you following me? Afraid I was going to leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?"

"I'd just as soon kiss a wookie!" Yuzuru snapped, eyes burning with rage.

"I can arrange that," Javier retorted almost smugly before he walked off, calling behind him to the shocked Yuzuru left in the hallway, "You could use a good kiss!"

Yuzuru almost seethed with rage as he fumed for a moment in the corridor, trying to get his irritation under control. That damn pilot really did know how to properly get under his skin and irritate him. Once he'd calmed down enough, he shook his head and followed the hallway back to the control room, apologising to the lady who accepted him back at her station again.

* * *

Further down the hallway, Miki and Sho-2 passed by members of the Rebellion who were trying to clear the snow from the edges of the hallways and add in more supports to stop the snowy ceiling from tumbling down on them. Miki turned her head at Sho-2's beeps.

"Well, don't blame me! I didn't ask you to turn on the thermal heater. I merely commented that it was freezing in the prince's chamber."

Sho-2 gave her some bleeps back that she responded almost indignantly to. "But it's supposed to be freezing! How they're going to dry out all their clothes around here I really don't know."

Sho-2 responded with beeps that sounded almost sarcastic, and Miki walked ahead of him, calling back: "Oh, switch off!"

"Why are you taking these apart now," Javier shook his head at Sergei in frustration as he pointed to two sections on the underbelly of the Falcon, "when I'm trying to get us out of here? You pull both of these..."

Sergei made an indignant noise that Javier wasn't having.

"Put them back together right now!"

Miki approached Javier and moved to be in front of him, earning a sharp glare from the captain. "Might I have a word with you please sir?"

"What do you want?" He snapped, patience worn very thin.

"Well, it's Prince Yuzuru sir. He's been trying to get you on the communicator all day--"

"I turned it off," Javier rolled his eyes, "I don't want to talk to him."

A little taken aback, Miki tried again. "Well, Prince Yuzuru is worried about Master Keiji. He hasn't come back yet. He doesn't know where he is."

"I don't know where he is either."

"Nobody knows where he is."

"What do you mean nobody knows?" Javier's lip curled at the droid before he pushed past her and started shouting. "Deck Officer! Deck Officer!"

"Excuse me sir, might I--"

Javier shoved a hand over Miki's mouth, effectively shutting the droid up as the deck officer approached him almost meekly.

"Yes sir?"

"Do you know where Commander Takahashi is?"

"No sir. I haven't seen him. It's possible that he came in through the south entrance."

"It's possible? Why don't you go and find out since it's getting dark out there?"

"Yes sir."

As the Deck Officer left, Javier breathed in sharply through his nose before he let go of Miki and half shoved her away. The droid wasted no time at all in starting to talk again.

"Excuse me, sir. Might I enquire about what's going on?"

"Why not?" Javier muttered more to himself as he walked back over to the Falcon, mostly lost in thought.

"Impossible man," Miki shook her head before she patted the top of Sho-2. "Come along, Sho-2. Let's fine Prince Yuzuru. Between ourselves, I think Master Keiji is in considerable danger."

Javier picked his way through the compound to the entrance that he had come in, where several other rebels were climbing off the creatures. The deck officer found Javier and frowned as he relayed the information.

"Sir, Commander Takahashi hasn't come in through the south entrance. He might have forgotten to check in."

"Unlikely," Javier zipped up his thick coat and fiddled with his snow goggles, "are the speeders ready yet?"

"Uh, not yet. We're having some trouble adapting them to the cold."

"Then we'll have to go out on tauntauns."

"Sir," Javier shoved his way through the other members as he made his way to one of the creatures, "the temperature's dropping too rapidly!"

"That's right, and my friend's out in it."

Javier swung himself up onto one of the creatures as one of the other men shook his head.

"Your tauntaun will freeze before you reach the first marker!"

"Then I'll see you in hell!" Javier snapped back as he made his way out of the entrance and into the harsh snow and wind of the outside climate.

* * *

Out in the midst of the snowy landscape a snowstorm started up. Hidden well away from the base, in a cave obscured by the sandstorm, was the white furry snow creature that had dragged Keiji off. The creature was knawing at the bones of his tauntaun, ripping the meat from them, as the young man himself hung unconscious from the ceiling as his boots were strapped to the ice in the ceiling of the cave. Cuts covered all down one side of his face, having stopped bleeding but they still left trails of the dried blood from his nose, down the corner of his cheek, and from along by one eye. His lightsabre lay in the snow, not far from him but just out of reach, and his eyes fluttered open slowly. He looked around before he tried to right himself. He reached for his boots, trying to get them out of where they'd been strapped into the ice before he gave up and hung upside down again. The exhaustion, cold, and blood rushing to his head hurt and he was just tired at this point. Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of his lightsabre and reached for it, trying desperately to grab hold of it. After three failed attempts, he let his eyes roll back and he nearly fell unconscious once more.

It was the sound of the creature chewing on the meat of the tauntaun that brought Keiji back to where he needed to be. Feeling something, he extended a hand to the sabre again. It started to shake and vibrate in the snow, as if it was fighting to get to him.

Unfortunately for Keiji, his movements caught the attention of the creature. With a roar, it stood to its full height of eleven foot and started to advance on Keiji in slow, heavy steps that shook the entire cave. With each step, Keiji drew the sabre closer and closer to him until it finally flew free of the snow. He caught it and ignited it almost immediately, cutting through the straps holding him to the ice ceiling with the blue blade before he defended himself against the advancing creature. He cut of its arm and, as it screamed in pain, Keiji scrambled over himself to get out of the cave, tripping over the snow at the mouth as he tumbled around, disorientated and confused as he made his way out into the midst of the blizzard.

Completely lost and utterly alone, Keiji dared to stop when he felt he was far enough away from the cave and the exhaustion completely overwhelmed him, bringing him to his knees and then onto his stomach.

Back at the base, Sho-2 waited in the entrance just beyond the steel doors with a scanner extended. He squeaked to Miki, who patted the top of him.

"Come along now Sho-2. There's really nothing more we can do. And my joints are freezing up."

Sho-2 beeped back a response and Miki turned back to retort. "Don't say things like that! Of course we'll see Master Keiji again! And he'll be quite alright, you'll see! Stupid little short circuit. He'll be quite alright." She carried on back into the base as Sho-2 beeped to himself and drew in his scanner.

* * *

Keiji lay on his back gasping for breath as he tried to fight against the wind and snow. He rolled over onto his stomach and rubbed at his face with one hand. He tried to pick himself back up and kept trudging, not knowing what he was trying to find, before he collapsed again from exhaustion and a little from blood loss.

Not too far away, with a scanner for life forms in his hands, Javier climbed off his tauntaun and looked in desperation through the snow whipping around his face as he tried to catch signs of Keiji. The machine whizzed and popped, and he climbed back up onto the tauntaun to follow the signals.

* * *

"Sir, all the patrols are in. Still no--"

The general in charge held up a hand and glanced back over his shoulder at where Yuzuru was pacing next to the Millennium Falcon, chewing his bottom lip with a guilt-laden frown. Both men lowered their voices, and Yuzuru tried his best to pretend he wasn't listening.

"Still no contact from Takahashi or Fernandez."

"Master Yuzuru," The prince looked up to meet Miki face to face as the droid spoke, "Sho-2 says he's been quite unable to pick up any signals, although he does admit that his own range is far too weak to abandon all hope."

Behind Miki, the two generals came over to Yuzuru and the prince swallowed thickly.

"Your Highness, there's nothing more we can do tonight. The shield doors must be closed."

With his eyes downcast and guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders, Yuzuru gave a very small nod to the two generals. They nodded between themselves, giving the order to close the doors. Sergei leaned his furry forehead against one of the stands of the Falcon as Sho-2 beeped out a message

"Sho-2 says that the chances of survival are 725 to one." Miki relayed, causing Yuzuru's heart to drop as he watched the huge metal doors lock closed together. At Yuzuru's expression, the gold droid then tried to make him feel better.

"Actually, Sho-2 has been known to make mistakes... From time to time..." She trailed off when she saw Yuzuru's expression morph into one of barely concealed pain and tears that he was using everything he could to force back. "Dear oh dear," she mumbled to herself as she and Sho-2 took their exit. Yuzuru swallowed again and went to leave, shaking his head as he passed Sergei.

"Don't," he whispered as the wookie stared at him with a glare, "j-just don't."

"Don't worry about Master Keiji," Miki patted the top of Sho-2, "I'm sure he'll be alright. He's quite clever, you know, for a human being."

* * *

In the snow storm, Keiji blinked awake again blearily as he looked up. There, glowing faintly blue, was Brian Orser standing before him. The gone Jedi looked down at Keiji as the other narrowed his eyes at him.

"Brian?"

"You will go to the Dagobah system."

"Dagobah system?"

"There you will learn from Satoko: the Jedi master who instructed me."

Keiji reached for the image. "Brian, please!" he almost begged before he collapsed fully, just as Javier on his tauntaun came into view.

"Keiji!" the other slid off the creature and rushed over to him. He grabbed him and turned him over, face falling. "Don't do this Keiji. Come on. Give me a sign here." He checked and nearly sagged with relief when he realised Keiji was breathing and his heart was still beating.

His tauntaun then collapsed, and Javier grimaced and wrinkled his nose. Dragging Keiji over as the other started saying random stuff, he stopped beside the fallen creature.

"Brian," Keiji mumbled to himself, and Javier ignored him as he reached for the sabre on the other's belt.

"Not much time," he whispered to himself as he ignited it and cut open the stomach of the tauntaun. "Hang on kid."

"Dagobah system," Keiji kept talking, even as no one was listening to him.

"This may smell bad, kid," Javier all but shoved Keiji inside the creature, grimacing as he powered down the lightsabre, "but it'll keep you warm until I get the shelter up." And, with Keiji safely inside the creature to keep him warm, Javier stuck out his tongue in disgust. "And I thought they smelt bad on the outside," he hissed to himself before he dug around in his bag to start getting the shelter out and assembled.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the morning, with the light of the near star by Hoth cutting through the sky and reflecting off the brilliant white of the snow, several rebel speeders sped relatively low to the ground across the snowy ridges and mountains once they were clear of the base.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, this story is back! (I know, I know it's been literally a whole month but please forgive me) This chapter feels a bit like a filler chapter, sorry, but it's necessary. There is a little bit of relationship development and a lot of disgusting if you know the twist that comes in ROTJ so.... Sorry. But I'm also not sorry. Big thanks as always to mybigfatcat and I hope you all enjoy this chapter xx

In the morning, with the light of the near star by Hoth cutting through the sky and reflecting off the brilliant white of the snow, several rebel speeders sped relatively low to the ground across the snowy ridges and mountains once they were clear of the base. The command squad and Yuzuru, who had chewed his fingernails near bloody in his sleepless night before, had sent them out as soon as the temperature got to the point where the speeders would work. The prince chose to stay in the entry way, despite the cold biting at his nose and cheeks, as he watched the pilots split up to cover as much of the area and circles laid out the day before as they could. All of them searched for some kind of signal, either from Keiji or Javier. With the general next to him, Yuzuru heard every word that crackled through from one of the pilots.

"Echo Base. I've got something. Not much but it could be a life form."

Yuzuru's heart stopped and he dared to exchange a look with the general. They then both looked at the commlink, waiting for something, anything.

"Commander Takahashi, do you copy? This is Rogue Two. Repeat, this is Rogue Two."

When nothing came back to him, the pilot gliding above the mountain tops tried again, keeping his eyes on the snowy land and expanse before him.

"Captain Fernandez, do you copy? This is Rogue Two. This is Rogue Two."

Still nothing came back to him but he endeavoured on, staying low to the ice and snow still.

"Commander Takahashi, do you copy? This is Rogue Two."

The pilot couldn't help but chuckle as something crackled back at him with static before a very familiar, slightly snarky accented voice spoke up.

"Good morning!" Javier said down the commlink, "it's nice of you guys to drop by."

Pressing one of the buttons on the control panel, the pilot then spoke to the general and command squad.

"Echo Base, this is Rogue Two. I've found them," Yuzuru nearly collapsed with relief, "repeat, I've found them."

"Good work Rogue Two. Send us your location and a squad will be there to bring the pair of them in as soon as possible. Give them as much help as you can until someone else arrives." The general then lowered the commlink and rubbed Yuzuru's shoulder. "And you need to go in and get warmer. You're ice cold right now and it won't do you any good."

Before too long, two ships with their pilots as well as Javier and Keiji came flying into the hanger. Javier brushed the medics off and away from him and ruffled up his curls as he stepped out of the ship, offering a thanks to the pilot who had brought him back. The other pilot, Rogue Two, lift Keiji's unconscious and beaten up form out of the ship in his arms. The medics swarmed in and rushed him to the medical bay as fast as they could, leaving the pilots to check in and Javier to follow Keiji and make sure he was alright.

In the medical wing, the noises the droids made weren't doing anything to reassure Javier that the other would be alright. As the droids were preparing to put the other into a bacta tank to heal up his wounds, a dishevelled and clearly exhausted Yuzuru stepped into the medical bay. Across the room, he and Javier made eye contact before the prince broke it, swallowing thickly as he joined the other's side by the tank. He chewed on his lip as he watched the medics and Keiji's vitals on the wall slowly returning back to normal, painfully avoiding looking at Javier.

"You shouldn't chew your nails, you know. Not like that at least."

Yuzuru looked over at him and quickly hid his hands, pulling his white snow gloves back on to hide them. Javier raised his hands in mock surrender.

"I'm just saying that you shouldn't do that."

"Well I didn't ask you to look, did I?"

"Easy, Your Worshipfulness."

With a tch under his breath, Yuzuru folded his arms and firmly ignored the pilot as they went back to their painfully awkward silence. Miki, Sho-2, and Sergei all came into the medical room too as the droid injected something into the tank and Keiji blearily opened his eyes. The young man was removed from it and the others followed behind the droid as it directed them to his new room.

* * *

"Master Keiji sir, it's so good to see you fully functional again!"

"Thanks Miki," Keiji half smiled as he lay back on the medical bed. New scars beside his eye and mouth adorned his face, and he sat back against the pillows, half fiddling with the white cuff of his medical gown. His voice was a little rough, both from lack of use and the cold.

Sho-2 wheeled around past Miki and bumped against the side of the medical bed, as if he was trying to give Keiji a hug. The human smiled as Miki translated for him.

"Sho-2 expresses his relief also."

"How you feelin' kid?" Keiji couldn't help but smile and relax when he saw Javier stride into the room with Sergei behind him. The pilot settled himself down next to Keiji's bed as he studied the other's face, scrutinising it. "You don't look so bad to me, you know. I reckon you're strong enough to pull the ears off a gundark.

Keiji snickered and half shook his head, missing Yuzuru as he slipped into the room. "Yeah, thanks to you Javi."

"That's two you owe me, junior." Javier teased as the pair of them laughed about it. Javier then turned around and raised an eyebrow at Yuzuru. "Well, Your Worship, looks like you managed to keep me around for a little while longer."

Yuzuru tilted his head at the other, half smirking. With his arms folded, he then shook his head lightly as he spoke. "I had nothing to do with it. General Kobayashi thinks that it's dangerous for any ships to leave the system until we've activated the energy field."

"That's a good story. I think you just can't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight." Javier flashed him the winning smile that had got the smuggler out of many sticky situations.

Yuzuru rolled his eyes. "I don't know where you get your delusions, laser brain."

Keiji couldn't help but snicker at that remark, but luckily Sergei did too from in the corner. Javier turned and glared at his co-pilot.

"Laugh it up, fuzz ball. You didn't see us alone in the South passage." The pilot paced around a little before he placed an arm around Yuzuru's shoulder with a huge grin. "He expressed his true feelings for me."

"M-My-?!" Yuzuru shrugged him off and opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he finally found the words. "Why, you stuck-up... Half-witted... scruffy looking... Nerf herder!"

Javier stopped dead in his tracks and fixed the prince with an intense, icy glare. "Who's scruffy-looking, Prince? You look like you haven't taken care of yourself in any way for days!"

Yuzuru just shook his head at the pilot, rage radiating off him as the other knelt down next to Keiji's bed.

"Must have it pretty close to the mark to get him all riled up like that, huh kid?"

Wisely, Keiji chose not to respond to that. Instead, he just looked at Yuzuru with nothing but concern in his eyes. As all eyes in the room turned onto Yuzuru, the prince just nodded at the pilot as he stepped forwards.

"Well, I guess you don't know everything about me yet." he hissed with venom and ice lacing his words before he cupped an unaware Keiji's cheeks and pulled him into a kiss.

Keiji's eyes flew open in surprise before he decided that, since a prince was kissing him, he would be polite and closed his eyes, even if that prince was one of his friends and had technically kissed him before. Mikik shuffled over, partially to get a better look at what was going on as Javier was half blocking her view, and partially to stop Sho-2 seeing what was going on. Sergei let out a small noise, and Javier's face darkened at the pair before him. When they finally pulled back, Yuzuru even rubbed the pad of his thumb lightly over the new scar on Keiji's cheek before he turned to look at Javier.

_Headquarters personnel report to command centre_ echoed over the intercom of the base, and Yuzuru turned and left, a little smug smirk blossoming on his face behind Javier's back. Keiji, still absolutely stunned, just sat there on the medical bed in utter shock and disbelief, and Javier waved a hand at him, still somewhat in a daze.

"Take it easy," the pilot said before he turned too and followed Yuzuru out of the medical bay. Sergei and Miki exchanged a look too.

"Excuse us please," Miki said as she followed Sergei and Javier out of the medical bay, leaving Keiji alone once more.

* * *

"Prince, we have a visitor," the old general said, half pausing to look between Javier and Yuzuru as he could practically cut the tension between the pair of them with a knife. Shaking it off, he turned his attention and directed theirs back to the matter at hand. "Picked up something outside the base's Zone twelve moving east."

"It's metal." the man in front of the screen on the same side as the general said with a frown.

"Then it couldn't be one of those creatures," Yuzuru supplied, eyes narrowing on the dot moving around on the screen.

"Could be a speeder," Javier supplied from next to him, putting the tension between him and Yuzuru aside for a moment, "one of ours?"

"No," the man said, touching the side of his headset, "w-wait... Wait. There's something very weak coming through."

Pushing a few buttons and tapping the screen, little metallic and robotic noises came through. Yuzuru frowned, nose wrinkling as he listened, and Javier just looked confused.

"Sir," the whole group turned to look over at Miki across the room, "I'm fluent in over six million forms of communication. This signal is not used by the Alliance. It might be an Imperial code."

After listening for a few more moments, Javier exchanged a brief glance with Sergei. The pair nodded.

"Doesn't sound friendly whatever it is. Come on Sergei, let's go and check it out."

Yuzuru opened his mouth as if to protest before he thought better of it and glanced at the general. Pressing a code into the computer, the general spoke again into the commlink.

"Send Rogues ten and eleven to station 38." He then stepped past the screen and nodded to Yuzuru as both of them headed out of the room.

* * *

Out in the cold, snowy expanse of Hoth, was a little droid with two extended antennae. It finished relaying its message before it lowered them down, back to the top of its metallic head, and it then set off across the icy land, hovering just above the ice as the speeders belonging to the Rebel Alliance had. Javier poked his head up from one side of a snowy boulder and his eyes narrowed on the droid. With his blaster in his hand, he nodded to Sergei, who was hiding behind another boulder. The wookie let out a small noise and raised his head, catching the attention of the droid. He then ducked down to avoid the small hail of red laser blasts directed his way, and Javier used the opportunity to try and get it so that it was disabled enough for them to take it back to base with them. He hit the corner of it, but the droid whipped around to aim at him; Javier only just had time to duck his head down. He then fired again and this time the droid exploded completely, showering Javier and Sergei in little dust particles. With a groan, Javier stood up and the pair headed back to the base.

"Afraid there's not much left!" Javier shouted down the commlink to the command centre through Yuzuru's headset. Yuzuru was sitting in front of one of the screens and he tapped through some of the options, frowning as the general studied the information in front of both of them on the screen.

"What was it?" the prince asked, eyes narrowing.

"Droid of some kind. I didn't hit it that hard; it must have had a self destruct."

Yuzuru pressed another button and gasped. "An Imperial probe droid."

"It's a good bet the Empire knows we're here then!" Javier supplied unhelpfully from outside. Yuzuru looked behind him and both he and the general nodded.

"We'd better start the evacuation then."

* * *

Gathering in the midst of space were several Star Destroyer and Super Star Destroyer ships. On one of them, pacing around with his chest puffed up on his own arrogance, was the Admiral. He and a few other men in higher ranked professions paced around, deep in a discussion.

"Admiral."

The man looked up, glaring at the younger man before him who was standing next to one of the screens.

"Yes Captain?"

"I think we've got something, sir. The report is only a fragment from a probe droid in the Hoth system, but it's the best lead we've had."

The admiral scoffed. "We have thousands of probe droids searching the galaxy. I want proof, not leads."

"The visuals indicate life readings."

"Could mean anything," he dismissed. "If we followed up every lead--"

"But sir," the captain pressed, "the Hoth system is supposed to be devoid of humans."

"You've found something?" both men turned and swallowed simultaneously. There, in his imposing black armour and cape, was Darth Vader himself. The captain recovered first and nodded, pressing a couple of the dials on the wall.

"Yes, my lord." He showed him the message that the droid had sent, including the images and video of an energy field generator. Vader stepped back and nodded.

"That's it. The Rebels are there."

The Admiral, highly frustrated, all but shoved the Captain aside. "My lord," he tried, "there are so many uncharted settlements. It could be smugglers, it--"

"That is the system. And I'm sure Takahashi is with them. Set your course for the Hoth system. General Veers, prepare your men."

The general nodded, stepping forwards to meet the Admiral's eyes. The other nodded to him before he too went to leave. The Admiral paused, glaring at the captain before he thought better of it and left too.

* * *

Back on the base, preparations for the evacuation were being made. One man instructed a couple of others of the jobs of some of the groups as Javier was atop his own ship again, trying to fix one of the bits on the outside. Nodding at his handiwork, he shouted to Sergei.

"Alright! Try that!"

Sergei reached for one of the overhead controls and flicked the switch, setting whatever Javier had been trying to fix on fire. With a shriek that Yuzuru would have teased him about forever had the prince been there, Javier tried to put it out while yelling to his co-pilot.

"Turn it off! Off! Now! Turn it off!"

The other pilots around the area snickered at the captain's antics and kept the incident tucked away in their minds, just in case they ever happened to see that the prince was having a rough day.

In the medical wing, Keiji was finally allowed out of his medical gown and was dressing in his official Red squad and Rogue uniform. Zipping up the orange jumpsuit, he hummed a little to himself as the medical droid spoke to him idly.

"Sir, it will take quite a while to evacuate the T-47s."

"Oh, forget the heavy equipment. There's plenty of time to get the smaller modules on the transports." He checked that he had everything of his before he turned to go, offering the droid a small and grateful smile.

"Take care sir."

"Thanks," Keiji nodded before he finally, after what had felt like forever, was allowed to leave the medical bay and head out into the hanger. Holding onto his helmet with one arm, he all but bounced over to where Sergei was fixing something on the underside of the Falcon.

"Sergei, take care of yourself, okay?"

The wookie nodded, letting out a little growl of sadness. Keiji reached up to scratch near his neck, making the pair of them chuckle as Sergei then enveloped him in a hug. Laughing, Keiji patted Sergei's furry chest before he stepped out from under the Falcon and faced Javier, who was standing on top of it.

"Hi kid!" he smiled before another droid came over to him and made squeaks of some kind at him. "There's got to be a reason for it. Check it at the other end." It made yet more squeaks and Javier waved a hand at it. "Wait a second." The captain turned to the younger man, giving him his undivided attention. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Keiji nodded, struggling to find the right words. Javier raised an eyebrow at him before they both gave a bittersweet laugh.

"Be careful," Javier called from where he was leaning against his ship. Keiji paused and nodded.

"You too," he said firmly before he headed off down the hanger, away from the Falcon.

"General!" In the commander centre, the general and Yuzuru both rushed over to the computer screen to see what the young man was pointing out to them. "General, Your Highness, there's a fleet of Star Destroyers coming out of hyperspace in Sector Four."

The two exchanged a look before they nodded and the general spoke up. "Reroute all power to the energy shield. We've got to hold them till all transports are away."

"Prepare for ground assault then," Yuzuru said, nodding before he turned to go to the hanger.

* * *

In space, massing near the icy planet, were the Imperial ships. In the middle of the Super Star Destroyer, Darth Vader was meditating inside a sealed black near-spherical vessel. Another man stepped into the room and the vessel opened, disturbing the lord.

"What is it General?"

"My lord, the fleet has moved out of light speed. ComScan has detected an energy field protecting an area of the sixth planet of the Hoth system. The field is strong enough to deflect any bombardment."

"The Rebels are alerted to our presence. The Admiral came out of light speed too close to the system."

"H-he felt surprise was wiser and--"

"He is as clumsy as he is stupid," the lord cut the general off with a short, sharp remark. "General, prepare your troops for a surface attack."

"Yes, my lord," the general all but rushed to be out of that room as fast as he could get, as Vader turned around in his meditation chamber to face a screen. Pressing one of the buttons, static came through before the face of the Admiral appeared.

"Ah, Lord Vader. The fleet has moved out of light speed and we're preparing to--" he gasped, choking for breath.

"You have failed me for the last time, Admiral," Vader said, voice as cold as the planet they were to invade. "Captain."

"Yes, my Lord?" the young captain stepped forwards, trying not to look at the man choking beside him.

"Make ready to land our troops beyond their energy field, and deploy the fleet so that nothing gets off the system. You are in command now, Admiral." As he said the final word, the old Admiral collapsed and went limp behind the former captain, who nodded and bowed his head.

"T-thank you, Lord Vader!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the hanger, groups of the Rebels in their orange pilot uniforms raced around, ducking under their ships, to slide up to the group and listen to Yuzuru's briefing. Although shorter than most of them, they all listened attentively to each word that the prince had to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Next chapter of this is here, yay! I had a day off today so obviously I used the day to write instead of doing any university work (whoopsie)  
> So! This chapter! It's the Battle of Hoth this chapter, so there is a lot of fighting and my best attempt at action sequences, and also some cute moments that hint at a relationship (it will appear soon in the story I promise)   
> Thank you all for reading this and I really hope you like this chapter xx

In the hanger, groups of the Rebels in their orange pilot uniforms raced around, ducking under their ships, to slide up to the group and listen to Yuzuru's briefing. Although shorter than most of them, they all listened attentively to each word that the prince had to say.

"All troop carriers will assemble at the north entrance. The heavy transport ships will leave as soon as they're loaded. Only two fighter escorts per ship. The energy shield can only be opened for a short time, so you'll have to stay very close to your transports."

"Two fighters against a Star Destroyer?" one of the pilots raised an eyebrow at the prince, scepticism written all over his face.

"The ion cannon will fire several shots to make sure that any enemy ships will be out of your flight path. Once you have gotten past the energy shield, proceed directly to the rendezvous point. Understood?" A murmur of yes ran around the ring of pilots listening to the prince, and Yuzuru nodded. "Then good luck to all of you. Everybody, to your stations."

Outside the base, in the snow, the Rebel soldiers started preparing their guns and towers for the ground assault. Before them, the area was incredibly misty and they couldn't see too far out in front of the base. Inside, standing before a couple of screens, were the general and Yuzuru.

"Their primary target will be the power generators. Prepare to open the shield."

Two fighters and one of the larger transports took off, and almost the entire Rebel fleet held their breath. A star destroyer moved closer to the planet, ready to intercept and stop the Rebels from leaving.

"Standby, ion control," the young woman sitting before the screen in front of the general said, watching the shops moving on the screen, "and fire."

Two shots from the ion cannon went out, flying from the planet past the larger transports. They hit the Star Destroyer, taking it out of action long enough for the Rebel ships to get pas the blockade.

_The first transport is away_

Around the base, at the announcement, ever pilot let out a cheer of delight before they went back to preparing for the evacuation and ground assault. Keiji rushed through, past the other officers, before he climbed up into his ship.

"Feeling alright sir?" his gunner asked, pressing the dials to set them up ready to take off as Keiji ruffled up the back of his hair and fiddled with his helmet.

"Just like new, Dak. How about you?"

"Right now I feel like I could take on the whole Empire myself."

Keiji chuckled, securing his helmet as they lifted off. "I know what you mean."

Outside, as the ships started to leave, the Rebels on the ground with hand guns and in the towers looked through their binoculars. Frowning, one of them zoomed out when they thought they'd caught something and gulped. There, getting slowly and inevitably closer, were huge metallic looking camels.

"Echo Station, 3T8, we have spotted imperial walkers. Imperial walkers on the north ridge."

The outside was absolute chaos. The walkers fired laser blasts, causing explosions and damage to the ground crew's equipment. The fighters, led by Keiji, came out in formation to meet them head on.

"Echo station five-seven. We're on our way."

Weaving around in the air, not too far above the snow, the ships ducked in and out of the red lasers aimed at them.

"Alright boys, keep tight now," Keiji directed through the communicators in the ship.

"Keiji," Dak piped up from behind him, "I have no approach vector. I'm not set."

"Steady," Keiji directed with a calm but authoritative tone, "attack pattern Delta. Go now."

Three ships followed Keiji as they blasted at the sides of the walkers. Their lasers did nothing but impact on the surface, leaving almost no trace and causing little damage. Taking another pass around, Keiji wrinkled his nose.

"I'm coming in."

Weaving between the legs of the walker, Keiji aimed the laser blasts at the legs. Although they impacted, they caused very little damage. Emerging out the other side, Keiji grimaced before he tapped a couple of buttons on the comm.

"Hobbie, you still with me?"

"They're with us Keiji," Dak piped up as the two ships took off away from the three walkers to regroup before they would get back into the thick of the action once more.

The walkers were completely undeterred by the actions of the fighters and ground crew. They steadily kept advancing, releasing a hail of red laser blasts at the fighters and the brave Rebels who sat in the snowy trenches by the base. Snow and ice was thrown up with every impact that missed its mark, and the men inside the walkers remained unconcerned as Keiji and Hobbie took another pass.

"That armour's too strong for blasters!" Keiji shouted into the comm, mind racing. Looking at the legs, an idea clicked. "Rogue Group! Use your harpoons and tow cables. Go for the legs; it might be our only chance of stopping them."

Turning the ship, Keiji got ready to approach the legs of one of the walkers. He swallowed thickly, adjusting the controls to keep them level.

"Alright, standby Dak."

"Keiji, we've got a malfunction in fire control! I'll have to cut in the auxiliary."

Keiji shook his head, trying to clear it as the legs got ever closer. In a split second, he made the decision.

"Just hang on Dak! Hang on for a moment and just focus on getting ready to fire that tow cable."

The other man nodded, adjusting the controls once again, when a stray laser caught the back of their ship. It hit Dak squarely and he slumped over onto the controls. Keiji glanced back and gasped as they flew straight through the legs of the walker, not firing their tow cable.

"Dak? Dak!"

The assault continued on as Keiji forced himself to calm down and think. Realising he was on his own for this, he pulled his ship back around and pressed a couple more buttons on the communicator to find a ship to link with. The walkers outside got ever nearer to the energy field generator, and more and more rebel troops and gun towers were being devastated by the onslaught of laser fire from all the walkers. The main one stopped, showering the troops in more lasers, as a small hologram appeared inside it.

"Yes Lord Vader. I've reached the main power generators. The shield will be down in moments. You may start your landing."

Bringing down a screen on the inside, the general started to prepare for the blast on the power generators. Outside the walkers, Keiji flew almost side by side with another ship as he linked their comms.

"Rogue Three?"

"Copy, Rogue Leader," Nathan said from the front of his ship, dropping back a little to follow Keiji's ship.

"Nate, I've lost my gunner. You'll have to take the shot. I'll cover for you. Set your harpoon and follow me on the next pass."

Nathan nodded and the two ships flew in sync together towards one of the walkers, with Nathan's ship just a little behind Keiji's.

"Coming around, Rogue Leader."

"Steady Rogue Two," Keiji called to another ship before he turned his attention almost solely onto Nathan beside him.

Keiji went first through the legs of the walker, with Nathan following close behind him.

"Activate harpoon!" Nathan instructed, and his gunner fired it right onto the leg of the walker where it stuck. "Good shot!"

Keiji circled the walker from higher up, covering Nathan's ship as they circled the walker around the feet. The ship wound around the walker once, twice, three times, ensnaring its legs with the wire.

"Cable out! Let her go!"

"Detach cable!" Nathan called from the front.

"Cable detached!" he heard from behind him.

Their ship made a break for it, following Keiji's ship out and away from the walker. Pulling against the cable, it tried to take a step forward and tripped over, falling and exposing the weak point where the head connected to the armoured body of the walker. Ground staff and the other fighters fired at the exposed point, reducing the walker to nothing but a pile of ash and rubble, some of which rained down onto the snow and ice.

"Hah!" Nathan grinned as he glanced out of the windows of the fighter. "That got him!"

"I see it Nate, great work," Keiji nodded to himself before he and Nathan separated in their ships to go and direct another attack.

* * *

"I don't think we can protect two transports at a time," the general walked up to where Yuzuru was studying one of the screens with Miki next to him. The prince chewed his lip, thinking for a second before he met the general dead on with fierce eyes.

"It's risky but we can't hold out much longer." As if to punctuate Yuzuru's point, the base shook after getting hit with something. "We have no choice."

"Launch patrol," the general ordered, and Yuzuru turned to one of the others who was standing near him.

"And evacuate the remaining ground staff. Miki, come with me."

Outside of the main control rooms, in the hanger, Javier and Sergei were both still fixing things on the Falcon. Sergei roared to his captain and the other rolled his eyes, running over.

"No no no! This one goes there, and _that_ one goes there, right?"

Sergei made a noise of affirmation and Javier went back to fixing whatever he was trying to fix on one of the ridges of the Falcon's roof. Across the room, Sho-2 was lifted up and settled into the section of Keiji's X-wing designed for the droid. Miki stood beside him.

"Sho-2, you take good care of Master Keiji now, understand? And do take good care of yourself."

Shoma beeped and squeaked at her as he was settled into the slot in the x-wing. Yuzuru marched over to Miki and grabbed her by the golden arm, tugging her in his frustration back towards the command centre.

* * *

Back outside, the two walkers kept pushing on to attack the base and get closer to the power generator. As much as the rebels that were part of the ground assault tried, their efforts were in vain as their laser blasts did nothing against the armour. Trying to take control of the situation again, Keiji wrinkled his nose at the damage that was being brought upon the towers and rebels in the snowy trenches. Inside the main Imperial walker, the general spoke to one of the troopers that was decked out in a snow-proof version of the storm trooper uniforms.

"All troops will debark for ground assault. Prepare to target the main power generator."

Keiji manoeuvred his ship to fly alongside one of the others. Keying in a code, he connected their comms.

"Rogue Two, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm with you Rogue Leader."

"Well, set harpoon. I'll cover for you. We need to take one of them out."

Speeding low to the ice, the two ships ducked and weaved between the laser blasts aimed at them as they flew ever closer to the walkers.

"Coming around."

"Watch that crossfire boys," Keiji warned.

"Set for position three."

"Stay tight and low," Keiji skillfully dodged yet more blasts. "This is it!"

Almost as soon as Keiji spoke, the other ship was hit dead on with a blast that caused it to explode in the air, showering the snow and ice with shrapnel. Keiji watched on in horror and, in his moment of distraction, a blast caught the side of his ship with a glancing blow, shorting all the circuits and causing the power to shut down.

"I've been hit!" Keiji called in frustration.

Fiddling with the controls, he tried to soften the landing as much as possible as he hit into the snow. He then unfastened his belts and pushed open the hatch to the cockpit. Stepping towards him rapidly was one of the walkers, and Keiji desperately shook Dak's shoulder, checking to see if he was really dead. As it got too close for comfort, Keiji swallowed down the reality and pulled a large gun-like device out of the ship with him before he rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding getting crushed.

* * *

Back in the base, Javier ducked under wires and dodged people as they raced thorough the hallways, making his way towards the command centre. Ice and snow from the carefully carved out hallways caved in from the ceiling, and Javier ducked to avoid being hit with falling snow. Stumbling into the centre, he passed the broken screens and gaped when he saw Yuzuru and Miki were both still there.

"You alright?" He called, climbing over some of the broken technology. Yuzuru's eyes narrowed.

"Why are you still here?" he snapped, not in the mood for any of Javier's jokes.

"Heard the command centre had been hit."

Yuzuru turned back to the screen he was focusing on before he gave Javier a short response without looking back at the pilot. "You've got your clearance to leave."

"Oh, don't worry, I'll leave," he pulled himself up and over some of the rubble so he was standing next to Yuzuru, "but first I'm going to get you to your ship."

"Your Highness," Miki piped up, "we must take this last transport! It's our only hope!"

Yuzuru shoved past Javier to stumble over to another screen that was still in tact. "Send all troops in Sector 12 to the south slope to protect the fighters!"

Javier turned, shaking his head at the prince, when something else hit the command centre. Circuits shorted next to Miki, and Javier pulled her out of the way as Yuzuru held onto the back of the general's chair to stop himself from tumbling over.

_Imperial troops have entered the base. Imperial troops have--_

Static cut off the announcement and Javier placed a hand on Yuzuru's arm. "Come on. That's it."

Yuzuru blinked, holding eye contact with Javier for a moment too long, before he turned to the general. "Give the evacuation code signal." Javier grabbed his arm and started to lead him out with a sense of urgency that the other wasn't liking. "And get to your transports!"

"Ahh! Wait for me!" Miki shrieked as she rushed to follow Yuzuru and Javier out of the command centre.

* * *

Outside the base, the troops had started to fall back after being given the signal. The remaining fighters tried to hold the walkers back as long as they could to give most of the ground staff more time to retreat, drawing the fire from the walkers towards the ships instead of them. Running underneath one of the walkers from where he had been beside his ship was Keiji. Using the gun he'd picked up, he fired a small harpoon up to the underside of the walker. It was connected to his waist, and so he dangled underneath it for a moment. Igniting his sabre, he cut open one of the panels in the underside of the walker before he pressed the button on a thermal detonator and threw it into the underbelly so that it fell neatly onto the side and stayed inside the walker. Detaching himself, Keiji fell harmlessly into the snow before he scrambled to his feet and rushed away from the walker. The detonator went off, blasting the walker apart from the inside and causing it to fall and tumble over.

The last walker, however, was still advancing towards the generators. With rebels running from its path, the general lowered a firing screen in front of him and adjusted the controls on the side.

"Distance to power generators?"

"17.28."

He tapped on the screen and locked onto the target before he adjusted one of the settings on the side.

"Target. Maximum fire power."

Firing two lasers, the power generators creating the energy shield were completely destroyed in a huge explosion, sending shards of metal everywhere. The general looked out beyond the screen and smirked.

* * *

Inside the base, Javier looked around for the source of whatever that last explosion was as Yuzuru caught up to him. Pushing the prince slightly ahead, the two raced down the corridor towards the transport Yuzuru and Miki were meant to be getting. Another explosion hit the corridor further along, just as Javier got in front of Yuzuru, and the pilot turned and pulled the prince down with him, shielding him from the mass of snow and ice that fell through the ceiling just in front of the pair. Leaving Yuzuru on the floor, Javier checked the wall of solid rubble before he stepped back, reaching for his comm link.

"Transport, this is Fernandez. Better take off, I can't get him to you. I'll get him out on the Falcon."

He grabbed Yuzuru's arm and pulled him sharply to his feet. The pair raced down the corridor, back the way they had just come, and past a very confused Miki.

"Where are you both going? Come back!"

Deeper into the base, another explosion went off to open up one set of the doors. As the snow and ice settled on the broken and abandoned tech in the command centre, the snow troopers poured in followed by Darth Vader himself. The troops spread through the centre before they filtered into the other rooms and out into the corridor.

Further down it, Javier shoved Yuzuru through one of the doors into the hanger with the Falcon. Just behind them, Miki shuffled along the corridor.

"Wait! Wait! Stop!" she crashed into the door that closed just in front of her that the other two had ducked through. "How typical."

"Come on," Javier grabbed her metal arm as the door opened up again, pulling the droid through after him, "we don't have time for this."

Sergei, by the Falcon, roared at the group as he ushered Yuzuru up into the Falcon. Javier overtook the prince before he paused to glare at Miki.

"Hurry up Goldenrod! You're gonna be a permanent resident!"

With that, the captain ran up into his ship followed by the prince. Miki shuffled on last and the entryway closed just as Vader himself stepped into the hanger.

Javier wrinkled his nose as the ship's engine stalled, and Sergei roared at him again.

"How's this?" The captain asked, flicking at random dials.

"Would it help if I got out and pushed?" Yuzuru hissed, sarcasm and anger heavy in his voice.

"Captain Fernandez, Captain Fernandez," Miki shuffled up behind him as she spoke, but she was completely ignored by the other two.

"It might," he retorted back, half enjoying the look of absolute horror that crossed Yuzuru's face.

"Sir, might I suggest that you--"

Javier turned, holding up one finger with a face of absolute murder that was directed at Miki before he walked off towards the cockpit. The droid watched him go.

"It can wait."

Yuzuru shoved past the droid, followed by Sergei, as they made their way into the cockpit behind Javier. The captain pressed something just above the doorway and the Falcon powered down. With a glare and a firm hit to the panel on the wall, she powered back up and Javier took to his usual post at the controls.

"This bucket of bolts is never going to get us past that blockade." Yuzuru stormed into the cockpit.

"This baby's got a few surprises left in her, sweetheart."

Outside the ship, the troopers had set up guns to fire at the Falcon, aiming to disable her long enough for a boarding party to take them prisoner. Jabbing one of the buttons on the control panel, a blasted descended from the underside of the Falcon that fired rapidly at the troopers, taking most of them out.

"Come on, come on!" Javier snapped, and Sergei followed by Miki ran into the cockpit. Yuzuru fell into the passenger seat behind Javier as Sergei took the co-pilot seat. "Switch over. Let's hope we don't have a burnout."

Sergei pressed a dial and something powered up, but nothing happened. Javier groaned.

"See?"

"Someday you're going to be wrong," Yuzuru shook his head at Javier, "and I just hope I'm there to see it."

Fiddling with more controls on the dial, Javier nodded to Sergei. "Punch it!"

His co-pilot pressed a couple more controls and soon they were flying out of the hanger, past Keiji on the snow and ice, and up out into space. Keiji trudged down to where the other pilots were getting into their x-wings, and he waved at the familiar droid in his.

"Sho-2! Get her ready for take-off."

"Good luck Keiji!" Nathan called to him, "See you at the rendezvous point!"

Keiji waved to him before he climbed up into his x-wing. Sho-2 beeped at him almost frantically, and Keiji half laughed to himself.

"Don't worry Sho-2, we're going. We're going!"

Keiji took off, flying into the vastness of space that was luckily void of Imperial troops now. Sho-2 beeped at him lightly and he half smiled.

"There's nothing wrong, Sho-2. I'm just setting a new course."

Sho-2 returned a couple of high pitched beeps.

"We're not going to regroup with the others. We're going to the Dagobah system."

Sho-2 let out a long whistle and Keiji chuckled.

"Yes, Sho-2?"

Sho made yet more little beeps and squeaks and Keiji shook his head. "That's alright. I'd like to keep it on manual control for a while."

And so, following the new path that was set out for him by the navigation computers of his x-wing, Keiji went in the opposite direction of the rendezvous point, towards the Dagobah system.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In true Fernandez fashion, as the Millennium Falcon sped through the vastness of space, she had a star destroyer clamped firmly on her tail. Green lasers narrowly missed the ship as Javier adjusted the controls to try and dodge them. Several TIE fighters followed them, also firing at the ship to get closer to them and try to get a more precise hit on the Falcon. Sergei let out a roar from inside the cockpit and Javier nodded, a grim look painted on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Yes, this story is BACK! And I honestly love writing this story. It's so much fun! I didn't think at the start that Yuzuru and Javier would fit into their roles as nicely as they do... but they really do fit into them so well? ANYWAY I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. There's some Javier trying to navigate an asteroid field, and Keiji trying to land a ship basically blind, and maybe a relationship moving forward hehehe. Without further ado, thank you for your support and I hope you all enjoy this xxx

In true Fernandez fashion, as the Millennium Falcon sped through the vastness of space, she had a star destroyer clamped firmly on her tail. Green lasers narrowly missed the ship as Javier adjusted the controls to try and dodge them. Several TIE fighters followed them, also firing at the ship to get closer to them and try to get a more precise hit on the Falcon. Sergei let out a roar from inside the cockpit and Javier nodded, a grim look painted on his face.

"I saw them, I saw them," he wrinkled his nose in irritation as he looked back down at the computer and went back to readjusting the controls.

"Saw what?" Yuzuru asked, leaning forwards in his seat behind the captain. He raised an eyebrow at the random flashing lights on the dash that he didn't understand before he looked out of the front window, heard dropping to his stomach.

"Star destroyers. Two of them coming right at us."

Yuzuru nodded, face falling back into his unreadable mask, as he went to sit back in his seat. The door to the cockpit slid open and Miki came in, jostled around by the movements of the Falcon.

"Sir, Captain Fernandez, might I suggest--"

"Shut her up or shut her down," Javier snapped, not looking over his shoulder at the golden droid as he instead kept his focus firmly on keeping the Falcon in one piece. Miki half fell into Sergei, who let out a sharp growl, and Yuzuru pulled her off as Javier kept talking. "Check the deflector shield." The ship then went berserk with some of the warning lights beeping like crazy, and Javier rolled his eyes. "Great. Typical. Well, we can still outmanoeuvre them."

Before Yuzuru had time to ask what the captain meant, Javier was pulling on the levers and the Falcon went spiraling away from the ships in a completely different direction. Unused to travelling like this and unprepared, the prince half fell onto the back of Javier's seat before the captain took a split second to shove him back into his seat.

"Strap yourself in Your Highness. Wouldn't want you to get hurt," he quipped.

Yuzuru's cheeks flushed bright red with anger and irritation, but he bit his tongue hard so that Javier could focus on doing what he needed to do. The ship weaved around, ducking around and getting several of the fighters off their tail.

"Prepare to make the jump to light speed," Javier said to Sergei who nodded and gave a small noise of his agreement.

"But sir!" Miki protested. As usual, no one listened to her.

"They're getting closer," Yuzuru pointed out, tone cold as he kept his eyes fixed on Javier. The captain rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah? Well then watch this."

He pulled on the levers that would usually send the Falcon into hyperspace, travelling at light speed. Instead, however, the Falcon made a small pathetic hiccupy noise before her engine stalled. Javier's eyes widened in disbelief, and, for a moment, panic flashed across Yuzuru's face before it was quickly masked.

"Watch what?" the prince asked, staring at the Captain.

"I think we're in trouble," the captain mumbled, mostly to himself but loud enough for the others to hear too.

"If I might say so sir. I noticed earlier that the hyperdrive motivator has been damaged. It's impossible to go to light speed."

Javier climbed out of his seat, cursing the golden droid as well as several other things under his breath. "We're in trouble."

Yuzuru was nearly shoved out of his seat by Javier climbing past him, and Sergei took control of the ship as he fiddled with most of the controls on the side panels in the cockpit. Javier darted out of the cockpit and Yuzuru raised a concerned eyebrow at him as the skip kept rocking from the laser blasts of the TIE fighters around them.

"Horizontal boosters!" Javier shouted from where he was balanced on piping and wires in the midst of one of the internal sections of the ship. Sergei climbed out of the cockpit too, leaving an inexperienced Yuzuru and Miki with the controls as he went to help the captain with the repairs.

"Alluvial dampers? That's not it," Javier cursed again in Corellian colourfully, "bring me the hydrospanner!"

Sergei carried the toolbox over to the opening of the section that Javier was in, and the captain popped his head up before he grabbed the hydrospanner. Shaking his head, he lowered himself back down with a muttered "I don't know how we're getting out of this one."

Something hit the side of the ship, knocking the toolbox into the internal system and earning another curse and grunt of pain from Javier. The captain poked his head up as another thing hit the ship, rocking her significantly.

"Those weren't laser blasts," the reality dawned on him, "something actually hit us."

"Javier," Yuzuru's voice echoed through the speakers of the ship from the cockpit where he'd taken over Sergei's seat, completely inexperienced, "get up here."

The captain pulled himself out of the internal part of the ship and nodded, running towards his familiar and comfortable seat. "Come on Sergei!"

At the sound of the cockpit doors opening, Yuzuru turned his head and let out a small sigh of relief when the captain and his copilot came into the cockpit to regain control. He stood up and gestured out of the front window.

"Asteroids."

Javier couldn't hide the little smirk that spread out over his face as he flicked a couple of the switches on the upper panels in the ceiling of the ship, and he then settled back into his seat. "Oh no," he mutter sarcastically as Sergei caught onto what he was thinking and sat down next to him. Instead of doing what Yuzuru expected and turning around, Javier instead increased the speed of the ship as they headed into the asteroid field.

"What are you doing?" Yuzuru asked, staring at him like he'd grown a second head, "You're not actually going into an asteroid field are you?"

"They'd be crazy to follow us, wouldn't they?" Javier asked, raising his eyebrows as he gave the prince a very pointed look. Yuzuru stared out of the main window at the seemingly endless field before them and he rubbed his forehead.

"You don't have to do this to impress me."

"Sir," Miki cut in, "the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3720 to one!"

"Never tell me the odds," Javier snapped as his eyes narrowed a little.

The Falcon darted around the rocks, skimming close to some to catch the pilots of one of the TIE fighters off guard. It caught one of the hexagonal panels on the side of the ship, sending them crashing into another asteroid. Being the skilled pilot he was, Javier was able to get the ship easily through gaps that Yuzuru would never have thought it was possible to get the Falcon through. The TIE fighter pilots were either too cocky or had been ordered to risk their lives following the Falcon as they couldn't negotiate the field nearly as easily as Javier could.

It still wasn't easy though. Yuzuru's eyes were huge with terror as he looked out through the front window at all the near misses to the ship. Several times he thought he was going to be killed, especially when an asteroid would fly in out of nowhere and collide with another in front of them. Being alongside Miki, who flinched at the slightest change in anything, didn't help to calm his nerves. The sip was rocked by the two colliding asteroids, and Yuzuru let out a small shriek when he was thrown around in his seat despite being strapped in.

"You said you wanted to be around when I made a mistake," Javier piped up, "well this could be it, sweetheart."

"I take it back," Yuzuru pushed himself so that he could sit upright and try to speak to Javier face to face, "we're going to get pulverised if we stay out here much longer."

Instead of fighting back with another quick retort, Javier just nodded. "Yeah. I think you're right. I'm not going to argue with that."

"Pulverised?" Miki whispered, earning a growl from Sergei. Javier chewed his lip.

"I'm going in closer to one of the big ones."

"Closer?!" Yuzuru gasped in disbelief. In all his time in politics, he'd heard weird suggestions but this one really took the cake.

"Closer?" Miki echoed his protests.

Javier, well aware of the two fighters on his tail, dipped in so that he was skimming the surface of an asteroid the size of a small moon. The two fighters followed him down a very narrow canyon that had naturally formed. Javier and Sergei turned the ship on its side, slotting the Falcon through a gap that both the fighters exploded on. With no more ships on their tail, Yuzuru dared to let out a breath of relief.

"Oh this is suicide," Miki groaned, much to the annoyance of everyone else, "there's nowhere to go."

Javier brought the ship up, a little way off the asteroid, before he nodded a little. "There." He pointed, and Yuzuru raised himself out of his seat a little to try and get a glimpse of where he was pointing, "That looks pretty good."

"What looks pretty good?" the prince asked, not really expecting a verbal answer. Unbuckling his belt, he stood up and raised an eyebrow at the deep hole in the asteriod that appeared to have no end to it.

"Yeah," Javier nodded to himself, "that'll do nicely."

Miki would have frowned if she had been able to, and her tone of voice conveyed her disdain and confusion. "Excuse me, sir, Your Highness, but where are we going?"

Yuzuru shrugged, and Javier dipped the ship into this new hole in the rock. It was almost pitch black and the ship settled on _something._ The landing didn't feel anything like rock but they landed somewhat safely. Yuzuru let out a small sigh, but he couldn't have honestly answered if it was from relief or something else.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Yuzuru whispered, and Javier nodded.

"Yeah," the captain agreed, "me too."

* * *

Across the galaxy, Keiji tilted his head as he looked down through the windows of his X-wing to the planet that the navigation computer was telling him was Dagobah. He couldn't even begin to see the surface of the planet; the clouds were so thick that it almost made the planet look as white and desolate as Hoth. Sho-2 beeped at him with light, tentative pops and squeaks.

"Yep, that's it," Keiji nodded, "Dagobah."

Sho-2 let out more whistles and the pilot chuckled. "No, I'm not going to change my mind about this." He did a quick scan of the area and his eyebrows raised. "I'm not picking up any cities or technology. Massive life form readings, though." He sighed and rubbed his forehead, "There's something alive down there."

Sho-2 beeped something else, noises going up a little at the end, and all Keiji's tension diffused with his laugh. "Yes Sho-2. I'm sure it's perfectly safe for droids."

He all but dived into the clouds with his ship, putting all the scopes on as he entered the atmosphere. The clouds were so thick, surrounding the ship and forming a dense fog that was impossible to see through. it suddenly got so much more turbulent, and Sho-2 let out frantic squeaks and squeals of panic.

"I know, I know! All the scopes are dead and I can't see a thing. Just hold on Sho-2. I'm going to start the landing cycle."

As Sho-2 responded with more beeps, Keiji flicked some of the switches above his head and frowned. The fog didn't really lessen at all, but he was soon able to make out the shapes of tree branches and leaves as he careened into them, trying to control his ship. Trying to steer it completely blind, Keiji moved out of the way of any branches he could see but it had little effect. He saw all of them way too late to have any real impact. His ship fell straight into something wet and moved no further, landing. He inhaled sharply before he pushed open the hatch to the cockpit and took in his surroundings.

He'd landed in a lake, or a swamp, or something like that. Dense forest all but entirely covered the land around it, and the fog hung heavy in the air. A bird-like creature of some sort flew around over his head, making screeches that sounded like they belonged in the distant past. Vines from the trees hung low and some dipped into the water. The ground was like mud mixed with fallen leaves as it emerged from the swampy water that his ship had fallen into. Keiji rubbed at his forehead before he pulled his gloves off and slowly climbed down the front of the ship to take a better look around. Sho-2 raised out of the droid section of Keiji's X-wing, letting out little pops and squeaks.

"No, you stay put Sho-2. I'll have a look around."

Something underneath the ship rocked it, and Keiji very nearly lost his balance. With a screech, Sho-2 slipped off and fell into the swamp that had a thin layer of fog over the top of the surface of the water.

"Sho-2?" Keiji's eyes widened and he searched the area from his place on the ship with wide eyes. "Sho-2?! Where are you?"

Just as Keiji was about to give up, a small metallic probe extended with a little camera on it, and Sho-2 let out a small squeak. Keiji rolled his eyes, sighing at the droid.

"You be more careful." He shook his head in disbelief as the droid seemed to tease him by going backwards and forwards under the water. "Sho-2. That way." He pointed towards the solid land and, if the droid could nod, he probably would have done.

Keiji threw his helmet into the cockpit of his X-wing before he jumped into the swamp too and swam to the edge of the swamp. He pulled himself up, shivering a little in his now wet orange rebel jumpsuit, before he turned to check on Sho-2.

The droid let out a squeal of distress as it vanished completely under the water and was followed by a black fin diving up and then back down.

"Sho-2!" Keiji gasped, pulling out his blaster and training it on where the droid had used to be. The water was eerily calm, eerily still, and even the animals in the trees and around him were silent. It was as if they could understand what had just happened. Keiji swallowed, taking a tentative step towards the water, when there was a huge ripple followed by a scream. Sho-2 was thrown out of the water and he flew across the forest to land in a tangle of vines. Keiji dashed over to the droid and helped to stand him upright on his feet.

"Oh no. Are you alright Sho-2? Come on. You were lucky to get out of there in one piece."

The droid, now covered in filth and dirty, bleeped at him, and Keiji managed half a smile.

"Anything broken?"

Sho-2 bleeped to confirm that everything was alright and Keiji patted the side of his metallic head.

"If you're saying coming here was a bad idea, I'm starting to agree with you."

Sho-2 added in a little quip as Keiji sat down on a log next to him and scraped some of the mud off the droid. "Sho-2, what are we doing here? It's like... something out of a dream, or... I don't know. Maybe I'm just going crazy."

Almost in direct response to his questions, Sho-2 squirted a load of muddy water out of one of the hatches on the top of his casing. Keiji wrinkled his nose before he sighed and pushed himself to his feet, ready to make the best of a bad situation.

* * *

Inside one of the star destroyers, waiting just outside of the asteroid field, the admiral stepped through the set of metallic doors and stopped before what appeared to be a black almost sphere. Sitting inside it meditating was Darth Vader himself. The admiral tensed as he turned, face and emotions hidden underneath his imposing black mask.

"What is it Admiral?" he asked, voice cold and altered by the helmet."

"Our ships have sighted the Millennium Falcon, lord. But it has entered an asteroid field and we cannot risk--"

"Asteroids do not concern me, Admiral. I want that ship. No excuses."

Without really waiting for a response, Vader turned around and the metallic sphere closed around him. The Admiral swallowed thickly and bowed before heading out of the room to inform his men.

* * *

Down in the inside of the asteroid, the Falcon was stopped with lower lights on. Yuzuru, Sergei, and Miki were all fiddling with the controls on the side panels in the cockpit when Javier stormed in with a firm look on his face.

"I'm going to shut down everything," he fiddled with the controls on the main control panel of the Falcon and several lights turned off, "except the emergency power systems."

"Sir," Miki turned towards him and earned an eye roll from the captain, "I'm almost afraid to ask, but does that include shutting me down too?"

"No, I need you to talk to the Falcon. Find out what's wrong with the hyperdrive."

Yuzuru and Sergei exchanged a look, and the wookie actually snickered lightly, when the whole ship was thrown into disarray. Something moved around, rocking them and the ship, and Javier had to grab onto the back of his pilot seat to keep himself stable. Yuzuru managed to hold onto the copilot seat, and poor Sergei stumbled around the cockpit until he got hold of the prince's shoulder to support himself. All four of them in the cockpit were jostled around, and Javier frowned and thought as it went back to as stable as it had been before.

"Sir," Miki piped up, "it is quite possible that this asteroid is not entirely stable."

Javier's patience ran out. "Not entirely stable? Well I'm glad you're here to tell us these things. Sergei, take the professor in the back and plug her into the hyperdrive."

Sergei placed a firm hand on Miki's shoulder and tugged her out of the cockpit. The three other crew members ignored her protests.

"Sometimes I just don't understand human behaviour! After all I'm only trying to do my job."

When it was silent in the cockpit again, Javier turned to the wall and flicked a couple of switches to see if that would make any difference. He turned back, mouth open to say something, when the ship jolted again. Javier fell backwards into one of the passenger seats, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around Yuzuru's waist as the prince fell into his lap. Settled there for a moment, Yuzuru's face grew hot as he realised exactly what was going on.

"Let go," he whispered.

"Shh," Javier wasn't paying attention to Yuzuru or their situation. Instead, he was listening to the rest of the noises outside of the ship. Even though they weren't being thrown around as much, they were still jostled a little and there was something clattering around outside. Yuzuru pulled against his arms, getting frustrated.

"Let go, please!"

"Don't get excited," Javier quipped, fixing the prince with a firm look. Yuzuru, used to the teasing, swallowed quickly and sighed.

"Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited."

With a huff, Javier put his hands on Yuzuru's waist and lifted the other off him as if he was as light as a feather. He placed him down in the cockpit on his feet. "Sorry sweetheart," the captain himself stood up before his typical Javier grin spread across his face, "I haven't got time for anything else."

With that, he left the cockpit, leaving Yuzuru opening and closing his mouth after him like a fish. The prince's face grew hotter and he groaned, glad that the door had slid shut and given him some privacy, before he turned to the dials and switches on the wall and busied himself with them instead.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back on the swamp planet of Dagobah, Keiji climbed from the relative safety of the forest type floor back onto the nose of his x-wing ship that was half sunken into the swampy water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Welcome back to this story! Sorry it's been a while since I updated this (there has been a lot going on) but here we are, chapter 5. This has THE BIT EVERYONE HAS BEEN WAITING FOR if you know how Empire Strikes Back goes hehehe. I won't say much in case I spoil it, and I hope you all like it xx

Back on the swamp planet of Dagobah, Keiji climbed from the relative safety of the forest type floor back onto the nose of his x-wing ship that was half sunken into the swampy water. He pulled out a bag full of supplied, slung across his back, and he carried the extra ones in his arms as he climbed back over to the place that had unofficially become the site of his and Sho-2's camp. Keiji dumped down his belongings before he adjusted one of them in front of Sho-2 and gave the droid a small smile.

"Ready for some power, Sho?"

The droid beeped his affirmation, and Keiji plugged the droid into the little power source he'd brought with him out of the x-wing. With a small sigh, after sorting out the droid first, Keiji stood to his full height and wiped most of the dirt that had coated the front of Sho-2's metal body and his hands onto the front of his trousers.

"Now all I've got to do is find this Satoko. If they even exist."

He settled down beside Sho-2 and took out his box of food supplies from his bag. The forest around him seemed teeming with life forms that let out little groans and pops, and other noises that gave him the creeps, especially when he dared to imagine what creature or creatures might have been lurking in the water that had dragged his droid down.

"It's a really strange place to find a Jedi master," he commented to no one really, as Sho-2 didn't offer any beeps or whistles in return as comments. Keiji half laughed with a voice full of nerves as he spoke again. "This place gives me the creeps." He bit into a ration bar that he'd swiped from the Alliance and frowned to himself. "Still, there's something familiar about this place."

Sho-2 offered some questioning beeps in response, and Keiji shrugged.

"I don't know. I just feel like--"

"Feel like what?"

Keiji whipped around, blaster drawn, as Sho-2 let out a little shriek. There, cowering behind their arms, was a small green creature with pointed ears and wrapped up in a sand coloured robe. Short brown hair, at least Keiji assumed it was hair or fur, covered the creature's head, and Keiji narrowed his eyes.

"Like we're being watched."

"Away put your weapon! I mean you no harm." The creature turned to look at him, narrowing brown eyes that almost, _almost,_ reminded Keiji of Yuzuru's, but that thought vanished in an instant. "I am wondering... Why are you here?"

Keiji slowly lowered the blaster in his hand, but his eyes never left the creature. "I'm looking for someone." He added tentatively, earning a sharp chuckle from the creature.

"Looking? Found someone you have, I would say!"

"Right," Keiji added with a nervous chuckle as he put the blaster away and tried to turn away. The creature, however, was having none of it.

"Help you I can. Yes! Mmm."

"I don't think so," the creature's ears drooped as Keiji cut them off. "I'm looking for a great warrior."

"Great warrior?" The creature pushed themselves up to their feet before they started walking with the aid of a stick, still laughing. "Wars not make one great."

Keiji stood up, following the creature's movements with curiosity. It was tiny; it only came up to about the same height as his knee. Sniffing around his things, the creature picked up Keiji's ration bar and sampled it.

"Put that down-- hey!" Keiji picked up the rest of the box of food and gave the creature a cold sharp glare, "that's my dinner!"

The creature spat out the pieces of the ration bar and fixed him with an equally sharp glare. "How you get so big eating food of this kind?" It then pulled itself up onto the table and started to rummage through Keiji's things.

"Listen friend," Keiji rolled his eyes as his tone grew cold and disrespectful, "we didn't mean to land in that puddle and, if we could get our ship out, we would, but we can't." He tossed the ration bar that the creature had taken a bite out of into the bushes, not wanting to risk it, before he opened up his food box again, "So why don't you just--"

"Cannot get your ship out," the creature taunted, giggling as it tossed something from Keiji's bag out onto the forest floor.

"Hey," Keiji set his food box down, closed this time, before he went over to where the creature was about to throw something else out. "Get out of there!"

"No!" The creature would have pouted but it soon got distracted by something else inside the box of Keiji's belongings. The man sighed as he adjusted the dials on what the creature had been fiddling with.

"You could have broken this," Keiji commented before he took in a sigh and looked at his scattered things as more were tossed from the box to the forest floor. "Don't do that. You're making a mess."

The creature let out a chuckle as it pulled out a lamp from Keiji's box of belongings. Shining it around, it then climbed down off the table and kept chuckling to itself.

"Hey," Keiji's patience had just about worn down to its limit, "give me that."

"Mine," the creature snapped in response as it moved out of the way of Keiji's hand, holding the lamp still, "or I will help you not."

"I don't want your help. I want my lamp back. I'm going to need it to get out of this slimy mud-hole."

"Slimy?" the creature's head snapped up, "Mud-hole? My home this is--"

The creature let out a small shriek as Sho-2 tried to grab onto the lamp with a claw mechanism from inside it. Unrelenting, the creature tugged at it but neither droid nor creature could get the other hand. Reaching around wildly, the creature grabbed their stick and hit Sho-2 with it.

"Mine! My lamp! Mine!"

"Sho-2," Keiji cut in, voice firm. The droid then retracted the claw and the creature watched the droid in fascination.

"Now," Keiji said, finally getting a handle on his temper again, "will you move along little one? We've got a lot of work to do."

"No, no no, stay and help you I will. Find your friend."

Keiji rolled his eyes. "I'm not looking for a friend. I'm looking for a Jedi master."

The creature's eyes went wide in realisation, and its ears drooped in the awe. "Oh! Jedi master. Satoko. You seek Satoko!"

Keiji's jaw dropped and he lowered himself to the creature's height. His own dark eyes were now wide too. "You know them?"

The creature nodded to him before it tapped his shoulder. "Take you to her, I will." It then let out a chuckle before tapping him again lightly. "Yes yes. But now, we must eat. Come."

The creature walked off and Keiji watched it go, silently considering his options. He bit his lip and finally nodded his head as he made his decision.

"Sho-2. Stay and watch after the camp."

Sho-2 let out pops and whistles of indignation as Keiji stood and left him alone with their things, following after the little green creature in the hope that they would lead him to Satoko.

* * *

On the Millennium Falcon, next to one of the main control panels, Miki shuffled around it and touched a couple of the controls. Letting out a frustrated groan, she shook her metallic head and spoke up to Javier.

"Ugh! Where is Sho-2 when I need him? Sir, I don't know where your ship learned to communicate but it has the most peculiar dialect." Javier rolled his eyes as he picked up the coil of wire he'd been fishing around in the supplies for to head over to her. "I believe, sir, it says that the power coupling on the negative axis has been polarised. I'm afraid you'll have to replace it."

Javier stopped by her and checked it over, looking in detail at the power couplings before he nodded to himself and gave her a withering look.

"Well of course I'll have to replace it," he retorted before he stepped past her to pass the wire up to Sergei who was in one of the gaps in the ceiling of the ship, working on repairs, "Hey, Sergei?"

His friend growled and tilted his head at him. Javier glanced over to check that Miki was preoccupied with something else before he turned back to the other, lowering his voice.

"I think we'd better replace the negative power coupling."

Sergei nodded to him, taking the wire up before he disappeared back into the space to work on rewiring some of the parts. Javier nodded before he turned, giving Miki a sharp glare as he headed towards the cockpit.

In the hallway near the cockpit, holding the too-big goggles over his eyes as he used a hand welder, was Yuzuru. He narrowed his eyes, focusing as he repaired a small part of one of the many interlinking circuits that ran across and through the walls of the ship. Satisfied with his reparation work, Yuzuru then set down both the goggles and the hand welder before he started to do up each of the couplings of the casing. Standing on his toes to see, he checked each was securely in place before he lowered himself back down to his normal height and took hold of the bar below. It was meant to rotate and lock into place, but it got stuck at vertical when Yuzuru tried to push it. He threw more of his body weight into it but nothing happened. With a quiet groan, he pushed again. Unknown to him, Javier had paused behind him just to watch him work, and the captain then put his arms around Yuzuru to try and help him push it. The prince turned around, giving him a sharp death glare, and shoved him off.

"Hey, Your Worship, I'm only trying to help!"

"Would you please stop calling me that?" Yuzuru glared at the wall almost enough to burn a hole in it as he loosened his grip and let it fall back again.

"Sure Yuzuru," Javier's voice softened and the prince sighed to himself.

"You make it so difficult sometimes."

"I do, I really do," Javier agreed as he leaned against the wall and went back to watching as Yuzuru tried to get the thing to move with the sheer power of determination and irritation. "You could be a little nicer though. Come on, admit it, sometimes you think I'm alright."

Yuzuru tried to slam it in with brute force, but he caught his right thumb and let go, groaning at the small cut and the bruise that he knew would form in frustration. He rubbed at his hand, trying to sooth the pain, as he turned to face Javier dead on.

"Occasionally, maybe. When you aren't acting like a scoundrel."

Javier moved and took Yuzuru's hand in his, massaging the area for him. "Scoundrel?" he asked before he raised his eyebrows and smiled playfully. "Scoundrel?" Yuzuru nodded and Javier chuckled. "I like the sound of that."

Painfully aware of how his back was against the wall and Javier was effectively blocking him in, Yuzuru glanced down at his hand in Javier's and turned bright pink.

"Stop that," he whispered.

"Stop what?" Javier asked with a mock pout.

"Stop that," Yuzuru looked very obviously at his hand that Javier was still soothing with the touch of his warm hands, calloused a little by space travel and smuggling. They felt to different to Yuzuru's smooth and soft hands that were usually covered by gloves, "My hands are dirty," Yuzuru tried lamely.

"My hands are dirty too." Javier responded with his ever quick wit as he kept his doe-like brown eyes focused on Yuzuru's. "What are you afraid of?"

"Afraid?" Yuzuru asked, leaning back as far as he could before he hit the wall.

"You're trembling," Javier gestured down to the hand he was holding and Yuzuru's cheeks heated up further. Javier leaned closer, and Yuzuru couldn't find it in himself to move, pull, or even look away.

"I'm not trembling," Yuzuru whispered as Javier let go of his hand.

"You like me because I'm a scoundrel." Javier reasoned, eyes fixed on Yuzuru's as he leaned ever closer. "There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."

"I happen to like nice men." Yuzuru whispered but his voice didn't hold the same conviction it usually did. Javier's hands slid to his waist and Yuzuru almost melted into his touch.

"I'm nice men," Javier whispered, so close to Yuzuru now that the other could almost feel his lips ghosting his own.

"No you're not. You're--" Yuzuru was cut off when Javier's lips came down on his own.

For all his talk, Javier was a very gentle and sensitive kisser. He stroked Yuzuru's waist with his thumbs as he traced the seam of Yuzuru's lips with his tongue, coaxing the other to let him in. Yuzuru was more than happy to let him take the lead, and Javier adjusted to mirror what Yuzuru did. Yuzuru's hands slid up to Javier's curls and he pulled the other in closer, tasting the lingering mint.

Like all good things, however, it was ruined.

"Sir, sir!" Miki came charging into the little section of the ship and, unaware that Javier was busy, she tapped him on the shoulder. "I've isolated the reverse power flux coupling."

Filled with regret and intense irritation for the droid, Javier pulled back from Yuzuru and turned to her.

"Thank you." His voice was laced with venom and anything but thanks. "Thank you very much."

Behind him, Yuzuru touched at his lips with his fingertips before the realisation and reality of what he'd just done set in. His face fell and he let out a small gasp as he climbed past Javier and ran down the hallway to hide, out of sight, in the cockpit.

"Oh, you're perfectly welcome sir," Miki positively glowed with pride as she got Javier's praise and left. The captain then turned and let out a small sigh as he watched Yuzuru go but didn't attempt to go after him.

* * *

Back out in the asteroid field, the Imperial ships were being battered left and right by the rocks. Damage was being left to each of them, and the higher ups all sent transmissions to Darth Vader's own ship.

"--And that, Lord Vader, was the last time that they appeared in any of our scopes. Considering the amount of damage we've sustained, they must have been destroyed."

"No, Captain. They're alive." Vader cut in, voice as cold and monotonous as always. "I want every ship available to sweep the asteroid field until they are found."

The two captains that were on the transmission with him and both bowed before their hologram forms disappeared. Vader turned to go, but was stopped by the Admiral.

"Lord Vader!"

"Yes Admiral, what is it?" He snapped, temper rising with every minute that the Falcon wasn't found.

"The Emperor. He commands you to make contact with him."

"Move the ship out of the asteroid field so that we can send a clear transmission." he commanded, and the admiral jumped to fulfil what he said.

He then walked off himself and headed into his private meditation room. Behind the black metallic sphere that he had been meditating in before was a black circle that, when Darth Vader knelt on it, it glowed blue and lit up. Before him appeared a projection of a much older, paler man. He had a black cloak up over the top of his head, and deep wrinkles and scars across his face and features.

"What is thy bidding, my master?" Vader spoke up, looking up at the other as he fixed his eyes on him. The hologram before him, the other man, the Emperor, spoke up.

"There is a great disturbance in the Force."

"I have felt it."

"We have a new enemy: the young rebel who destroyed the Death Star. I have no doubt that this boy is the offspring of Daisuke Takahashi."

The name hung heavy between them in the air and the atmosphere grew more tense and thicker, like it could have been cut with a knife.

"How is that possible?" Vader finally spoke up and said, looking at the other behind his mask.

"Search your feelings, Lord Vader," the Emperor's voice was still calm and level. "You will know it to be true. He could destroy us."

"He is just a boy," Vader reasoned before his voice held a hint of smugness in the tone, even as it was distorted by his mask. "Brian Orser can no longer help him."

"The Force is strong with him," the tone shifted and the Emperor's eyes narrowed as the transmission flickered a little, "The son of Takahashi must not become a Jedi."

"If he could be turned," Vader reasoned, and the Emperor leaned back a little as he listened to his suggestion, "he would become a powerful ally."

"Yes," the Emperor drew the 's' of the word out much longer than it needed to, sounding like a snake about to strike, "if he could be turned, he would become a great asset to the cause. But can it be done?" he asked, presenting it almost like a challenge to Vader.

"He will join us, or die, my Master." Vader bowed his head to the other fully before the transmission ended and the hologram of the other faded out.

* * *

On Dagobah, an entrance to a home had been carved out of the ground and a tree stump, descending low into the ground. It had started to pour with rain, and Sho-2 wheeled around in worry before he pushed himself up onto his wheels higher so that he could peer inside the house.

"Look," Keiji couldn't stand upright inside the house and he was half leaning over as he paced around and argued, "I'm sure it's delicious. I just don't understand why we can't see Satoko now?"

"Patience," the creature snapped. "because, for the Jedi, it is time to eat as well."

Keiji knelt down on the floor, finding it much more comfortable than trying to lean over constantly, and he picked up what he assumed was a clean bowl. He scooped some of the _thing_ out of the pot that was hanging over the fireplace into the bowl and sampled it, barely managing to hold back his gag. He then added a few herbs to it and forced himself to start eating it.

"Good food, yes? Good?"

Keiji nodded, trying to keep in the creature's good books, and turned back to it to ask. "How far away is Satoko? Will it take us long to get there?"

"Not far. Satoko's not far. Patience. Soon, you will be with her."

The creature headed over to Keiji and settled down near him, clearing up the little table as it spoke up more.

"Why wish you become Jedi?"

"Mostly because of my father, I guess," Keiji said with half a shrug as he stirred the food around his bowl more. The creature nodded with a knowing smile.

"Ah, father. Powerful Jedi was he. Mm, powerful Jedi."

Keiji rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. How could you know who my father is when you don't even know who I am. And I don't even know what I'm doing here," he slammed the wooden bowl down next to him in frustration, "we're wasting our time!"

The creature sighed and shook its head. "I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience."

Echoing through the small home came Brian's voice, shocking Keiji right to the core. "He will learn patience."

"Hmm... Much anger I sense in him. Like his father."

"Was I any different when you taught me?"

"No. He is not ready."

Keiji's eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped as he looked at the creature before him. "Satoko?" he whispered.

She nodded to him silently and everything clicked into place in Keiji's head. "I-I am ready! I can be a Jedi! Brian tell her I'm read--" He tried to stand up and smacked his head on the ceiling, letting out a little groan as it effectively shut him up.

"Ready are you?" Satoko fixed him with a firm look. "What know you ready? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained. A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, hmm? The most serious mind." Keiji looked away lightly in shame as Satoko kept talking. "This one, a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away to the future. To the horizon. Never his mind," she poked him firmly with her stick to draw him back to here, "on where he was. What he was doing. Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things. You," she fixed Keiji with a firm glare, "are reckless."

"So was I, if you remember," Brian pointed out.

"He is too old. Yes, too old to begin the training."

"But I've learned so much," Keiji all but begged.

Satoko wrinkled her nose at him before she sighed. "Will he finish what he begins?"

"I won't fail you." Keiji promised. "I'm not afraid."

"Good," Satoko said, meeting his eyes unflinching. "You will be."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out in the asteroid field, the Imperial Star destroyers blasted any asteroids in their way to pieces as they continued sweeping the field.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, this story is back again! This chapter feels like filler mostly, sorry, but I hope you all enjoy it. We're about halfway through the film now so a new character will be introduced soon. Hope you guys all like this chapter and thank you for reading xx

Out in the asteroid field, the Imperial Star destroyers blasted any asteroids in their way to pieces as they continued sweeping the field. Several TIE fighters had been deployed too, and they swept closer to each of the bigger asteroids that a ship like the Falcon could have landed on. Several of the blasts fell into the hole that Javier had hidden the ship in, and Yuzuru, from where he was sitting in Javier's seat in the cockpit, could faintly hear them. He stared at the controls, completely zoned out and lost in his own thoughts as he leaned his head on his own gloved hand. With the Falcon in low power, the lights were dimmer and Yuzuru might have tried to get some rest if his mind wasn't racing so much. He glanced up at the sound of a slightly louder impact on the rocks, one that he guessed was closer, but he didn't spring into action due to concern. With his head up, he then caught sight of something gliding past the window of the cockpit. Curiosity got the better of him and he pushed himself to his feet, inching nearer and nearer to the screen. He narrowed his brown eyes, trying to see better in the darkness. He leaned on the control panel, half remembering to avoid the buttons. He tilted his head as he looked out.

A winged creature let out a squeal as it stuck to the window, mouth flat as it attempted to feed off the glass. Yuzuru flinched back and screamed as he ran out of the cockpit in a panic. He didn't stay long enough to register what the creature was.

"Sir, if I may venture an opinion," Miki started from where she was looking at one of the control panels in the corridors of the Falcon. Next to her, Javier and Sergei were welding wires together to fix their ship that was forever in need of repairs.

"I'm not really interested in your opinion Miki," Javier cut in, struggling to not roll his eyes. Yuzuru stumbled in and let out a gasp before he spoke.

"There's something out there."

Immediately Javier stopped what he was doing and lifted up the goggles over his eyes so that he could look at Yuzuru full in the face.

"Where?"

"Outside in the cave."

As if to punctuate Yuzuru's point and convince Javier further, banging from the outside of the ship echoed around the place. Javier glanced around in confusion before he fixed Yuzuru with a look and tossed down his goggles and welder.

"There it is! Listen! Listen!" Miki exclaimed, drawing her worry from the way Yuzuru's eyes widened more.

"I'm going out there," Javier decided as Yuzuru and Sergei both gaped at him.

"Are you crazy?" Yuzuru asked as Javier pushed past him to get to the rack of oxygen masks that were by the ramp of the Falcon.

"I just got this bucket back together. I'm not going to let something tear it apart."

With a groan of frustration, Yuzuru grabbed one of the masks too and stomped after Javier. "Then I'm going with you!"

Sergei gave a growl of affirmation as he took another mask off the rack, with his crossbow in his other hand, and followed the other two. Miki looked down the ramp at where the three of them had gone and shook her metallic head.

"I think it might be better if I stay behind and guard the ship." From outside, another roar and noise was heard, and Miki looked around in worry. "Oh no."

Outside the ship, Javier had his blaster raised as he hesitantly stepped off the ramp and onto the ground. It was covered by a weird mist that seemed to coil around his ankles and cling to his clothes. Yuzuru followed him out, holding onto the edge of the Falcon as long as he could while the pilot and copilot looked around under the ship for anything doing damage to her.

"This ground sure feels strange," Yuzuru mumbled, "It... It doesn't feel like rock."

Javier nodded, half listening to him. It felt too spongey, too squishy. Yuzuru was right; it didn't feel like rock at all.

"There's an awful lot of moisture in here," he commented, mind unwittingly racing back towards his days at the Imperial Academy where stories had been traded over their meals with whispers of the dreaded--

"I don't know," Yuzuru cut his thoughts off as he looked around into the darkness, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Javier nodded, chewing his lip below the mask before he nodded. "Yeah..." Behind him, he heard a screech and clattering. He whipped around, blaster raised. "Watch out!"

Yuzuru ducked as Javier fired and he hit the creature that had tried to attach to the side of the ship. With huge green wings, it looked almost like a pterodactyl and it fell easily to the floor of the cave. Javier and Sergei stepped around to look at it, and Javier threw a small grin to Yuzuru.

"It's alright! It's alright." His tone was light and soothing, and Yuzuru felt his knots of anxiety loosen ever so slightly. "Yeah, it's what I thought: a mynock. Sergei, check the rest of the ship and make sure that there are no more attached. They'll be chewing on the power cables probably."

Yuzuru wrinkled his nose when he saw the creature that Javier had shot; the mist on the floor seemed to clear around it. He then looked around the cave, trying to understand. Javier caught his look and gave him that easy smile that made butterflies flutter in Yuzuru's stomach.

"Go and head inside. We'll clean them off if there are anymore." Javier promised.

Yuzuru, distracted by looking around, didn't catch sight of the swarm of them that decided to fly at him until an almost leathery feeling wing brushed his cheek. With a scream, he tried to bat them away from him. Javier caught sight of him across the cave, dark eyes full of concern, and Yuzuru made a break towards the ramp of the ship. One of the creatures tried to take Sergei's crossbow from him and several came close to the window of the cockpit where Miki was looking out. The droid let out a screech and tried to shoo them away from the inside. In Sergei's fight with the creature, he loosed a laser blast from the crossbow and hit the side of the cave. Immediately the ground shook and Javier very nearly slipped over from his loose footing. The ideas resurfaced in Javier's head and he just had to test his theory. He raised his blaster and fired a shot directly into the ground.

The ground shook much more aggressively, so much so that Yuzuru's grip on the side of the ship slipped and he stumbled. Javier nearly fell as he tried to make his way back onto the ship and, with one hand, he caught hold of Yuzuru's waist and pushed him towards the ramp. Sergei followed them both back onto it with distressed growls. As the three made a sprint towards the cockpit, Javier crashed into the walls and threw Miki completely off balance as he tugged off his oxygen mask. He flicked a couple of switches on the wall before he stumbled on towards the cockpit, shouting.

"Sergei, come on, let's get out of here."

"The Empire," Yuzuru struggled to shout over the sound of the crashing and banging from everything falling around the ship, "is still out there! I don't think--"

"No time to discuss this in committee!" Javier snapped as he ran from Yuzuru towards the cockpit, avoiding being thrown against the wall by the next movement of the floor of the ship. Yuzuru got caught in the movement and grimaced as he pushed off from the wall to run after Javier.

"I am not a committee!"

Sergei was already in the copilot seat as Javier stumbled his way into the cockpit and pilot's seat. Yuzuru tripped after him and fell into one of the passenger seats as Javier and Sergei flicked the switches.

"You can't make the jump to light speed in this asteroid field," Yuzuru gasped out, trying not to fall over or drop his oxygen mask as he clung to the passenger seat and desperately tried to strap himself in before he was thrown out again by the movement of the ship. Javier just rolled his eyes at him.

"Just sit down, sweetheart. We're taking off."

Javier and Sergei, having worked together and flown together for so long, knew exactly what to do. They got the ship up and Javier directed her so that they were heading towards the entrance of the cave. Miki stumbled into the cockpit and Yuzuru unbuckled himself so that he could shove her down into her seat and strap her in.

"Look!" Miki gasped.

"I see it, I see it," Javier nodded to himself as he and Sergei increased the speed.

"The cave is collapsing!" Yuzuru gasped. Javier glanced at him with one raised eyebrow.

"This is no cave."

"W-what?!"

In front of them, what Yuzuru thought was the cave, was actually a set of jaws closing rapidly. Javier and Sergei exchanged a look before they manoeuvred the ship and steered her so that she slipped between the teeth of the creature and out into the asteroid field. Emerging out of the asteroid behind them, trying to catch them again between its jaws, was an enormous space slug. The ship soon disappeared into the asteroid field, well out of its reach and Javier and Sergei both tried navigating it again.

* * *

On Dagobah, the mynocks flew around the heights of the trees and vines, and mist hung in the air, making it moist and heavy. Keiji grabbed hold of the bottom of one of the vines and pulled himself up, climbing it with Satoko holding onto his back so that she could give him more guidance as they trained. Halfway up the vine, Keiji gained solid footing on a mound formed by a tree root that was overgrown with vines and grasses. Connected to that was another vine that Keiji dislodged and used to swing himself and Satoko down from the height he had climbed up to and towards the forest floor. Once down, he took in a deep breath before he started running through the forest, encouraged by Satoko's words and her teaching. He did a flip over a mound of tree roots before he carried on running.

"Yes, run. A Jedi's strength flows from the Force. But beware of the dark side. Anger, fear, aggression. The dark side of the Force are they. Easily they flow, quick to join you in a fight. If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will as it did Brian Orser's apprentice."

Keiji came to a stop and held onto a tree as he gasped for breath. Sweat was dripping down his face and the humidity of the planet really didn't help him as he struggled to breathe and keep cool. He wiped his forehead off on his forearm before he could choke out a question.

"Vader," he whispered before he cleared his throat and spoke up. "Is the dark side stronger?"

"No. No. Quicker, easier, more seductive."

"How do I know the good side from the bad?" Keiji asked, turning his head so that he could get a better look at the little green Jedi Master that was holding onto his shoulders. She gave him half a smile.

"You will know when you are calm and at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defence. Never for attack."

"But," Keiji's eyebrows furrowed and he half scrunched up his nose, "tell me why I can't--"

"No," Satoko corrected, "no. There is no why." She frowned and then tilted her head at him, green ears drooping a little. "Nothing more will I teach you today. Clear your mind of questions."

Keiji nodded as he slowed and calmed his breathing. Satoko made a satisfied hum as Keiji helped her down off his back and set her on the ground. He then reached for his jacket as he cooled down and the sweat started to evaporate, leaving goosebumps across his skin. He reached over to where his jacket had been tucked on a tree branch along with his belt containing his blaster and lightsabre.

"There's something not right here," Keiji whispered, staring into the trees with narrowed eyes. Satoko behind him looked at him with an unreadable expression. "I feel cold... Death..."

"That place," Keiji whipped around to look at Satoko as she spoke. She pointed past him with her stick, pointing deep into the trees, "is strong with the dark side of the Force. A domain of evil it is. In you must go."

"What's in there?" Keiji asked quietly and Satoko met him with a level look.

"Only what you take with you."

Keiji steeled himself before he pulled his weapons belt off the tree branch and started to walk off, buckling it around his waist.

"Your weapons," he glanced back and Satoko was shaking her head, "you will not need them."

Keiji did not heed her advice and instead buckled them tighter around his waist. He stepped through the vines, carefully picking his way through as the terrain got rougher and he felt more. It was like something inside of him was going into overdrive. He reached the mouth of a cave and poked his head in before he climbed in himself, fear rising in his throat. He willed himself to be calm, willed himself to be peaceful, willed himself to remember everything that Satoko had taught him before he had come in. Still, he couldn't help but rest one hand on his lightsabre, just in case. He frowned, making his way through the vines before he decided to take the easier route, going in the direction with the fewest vines. It was almost pitch black there and swirling with mist. Keiji glanced around before he stopped in what looked like an abandoned doorway. He heard something that sounded very much like a footstep and looked up before his heart stopped.

There, advancing towards him, was Vader, as tall and imposing as he ever was with his towering form enveloped in the black armour. Keiji stumbled back, tripping over himself to get away as he reached for his lightsabre on his belt. He ignited it and held it before him defensively. Vader drew his own, a contrasting red to Keiji's pale blue, and Keiji raised his first. The two clashed sabres together in a dual before Keiji got the upper hand and knocked Vader's lightsabre away before he swung and cut his head off in a shower of sparks from just below the helmet. The helmet and head rolled to a stop, and Keiji slowly drew his lightsabre back in. His eyes were fixed to the mask, that mask that concealed the truth. Before he had a chance to make a decision about it, the mask exploded, sending off the front in a shower of sparks and smoke. Keiji waited, heart beating in his throat, as he watched the smoke slowly clear to reveal pale skin, soft pale pink lips, and one brown eye.

Keiji wanted to scream. Staring back at him, from beneath Vader's mask, was his own face.

* * *

In the asteroid field, the TIE fighters returned to the Imperial ships to land and for the pilots of them to disembark. In the main control room, the Admiral was pacing around on edge as he looked at one of the screens and lowered his voice to speak to one of the men on duty.

"Bounty hunters," he said, voice dismissive and cold as he looked at the group gathered across the room, "we don't need their scum."

The other men shrugged and the Admiral turned to go when one of the bounty hunters locked eyes with him sharply and showed off his claws. The Admiral swallowed thickly before one of the lower ranking Imperial Officers tapped him on the shoulder to snap him out of it.

"Sir, we have a priority signal from the Star destroyer Avenger."

"Right," the Admiral nodded, letting the other lead him to the computer screen so that they could work on it.

Pacing in front of several alien creatures and those in metallic armour, similar to his own, was Vader. The leader spoke in a deliberate drawled out tone as he paced around.

"There will be a substantial reward for the one that finds the Millennium Falcon. You are free to use any methods necessary, but I want them alive." He stopped before one in armour and raised his finger to the other. "No disintegrations."

"As you wish," the other's voice crackled through his helmet and Vader nodded to himself. The Lord stepped away, ready to return to his chamber.

"Lord Vader!" Vader turned to see the Admiral all but bouncing up to him. "My Lord, we have them."

* * *

In front of one of the star destroyers, nearly caught in several beams of green blasts, was the Falcon. Javier and Sergei steered around the last few asteroids before they came to the edge of the field and could then just focus on dodging the laser blasts.

"Oh thank goodness we're coming out of the asteroid field," Miki commented, sounding a little proud of herself.

The ship got rocked around again, this time by the laser blasts. One very nearly connected with them and, with a glance back, Javier nodded to himself.

"Let's get out of here," he mumbled mostly to Sergei but it was loud enough for Yuzuru and Miki to hear it too, "Ready for light speed?"

Sergei let out a roar of affirmation and both he and Javier flicked several switches around them in the cockpit. Javier nodded to himself before he started their countdown.

"One. Two. Three!"

On three, once again, instead of entering hyperspace, the Falcon just made noises as her engine stuttered. Sergei let out a soft growl of disappointment, and Yuzuru lowered and shook his head. Javier started out of the front window in disbelief.

"It's not fair," he whispered.

Sergei let out a roar at Javier and the captain opened and closed his mouth several times.

"Transfer circuits aren't working! It's not my fault!"

"No light speed?" Yuzuru asked, tilting his head to one side. Javier pouted at him and sighed.

"It's not my fault," he defended, face soft. Yuzuru couldn't help but soften his own look to give Javier some sympathy.

The ship rocked about again, throwing them side to side, and Miki studied the flashing lights all around the cockpit. A new one came up on the dash and she shook her head as panic flooded her tone like oil flooded her insides.

"Sir, we've just lost the main rear deflector shield. One more direct hit on the back quarter and we're done for."

Javier, at the end of his tether with Miki, sat upright. "Turn her around."

Sergei let out a roar or protest but Javier was having none of it as he jumped out of his seat and started flicking new dials on the walls of the cockpit.

"I said turn her around! I'm going to put all power in the front shield."

"You're going to attack them?" Yuzuru asked as his panic overflowed his normal emotionless mask. Javier nodded to Yuzuru and Miki felt the need to pipe up.

"Sir, the odds of surviving a direct assault on an Imperial Star destroyer--"

"Shut up!" Yuzuru snapped as Javier climbed back over him to get into his seat.

Despite all their protests, the ship was turned and the power drawn to the front shields. On the destroyer, the generals exchanged a look.

"Are they moving into attack position?"

Javier easily dodged the lasers fired in their directions and the captain in charge of the Star destroyer nearest to them kept his smug look on his face.

"Shields up."

Javier made no move to blast the ship apart, however. He came over and, despite the ship being on the outside of the glass, the men inside all ducked as if he would hit them. The captain narrowed his eyes as he looked out into the vast expanse of space.

"Track them. They may come around for another pass."

"Captain Needa, the ship no longer appears on our scopes."

The captain's eyes narrowed and his eyebrows furrowed. "They can't have disappeared. No ship that small has a cloaking device."

"Well, there's no trace of them sir."

"Captain Needa," another man at a computer screen spoke up, "Lord Vader demands an update on the pursuit."

The Captain's face turned pale and he swallowed thickly. "Get a shuttle ready. I shall assume full responsibility for losing them and apologise to Lord Vader. Meanwhile, continue to scan the area."

"Yes Captain."


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Dagobah, Satoko had led Keiji out to an area not far from his camp where there was enough solid ground for them to work together on. Mist curled around the water, toying with the surface on it, and Keiji got into a handstand with Satoko sitting on one of his feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, this story is back! Sorry, I'll try and update it more regularly in the future. This is a very long chapter, sorry, and it goes into some of the slightly darker parts of the film. If you have watched it, you know what's coming. If you haven't, sorry! This does switch POV a lot so I've put in breaks. I hope you all like it and I hope you're all safe xx

On Dagobah, Satoko had led Keiji out to an area not far from his camp where there was enough solid ground for them to work together on. Mist curled around the water, toying with the surface on it, and Keiji got into a handstand with Satoko sitting on one of his feet.

"Use the Force," she instructed as Keiji shifted his weight so that he could remove one of his hands. Nodding in satisfaction, she and Keiji both ignored Sho-2's blips of protest. "Now, the stone."

Beside Keiji was a pile of four stones. With his eyes closed, he felt the same sort of connection as he did with his lightsaber back on Hoth when he was in the cave. Keeping himself calm and focused, he lifted the stone up and set it down atop the other. Satoko again nodded in satisfaction until Sho-2 started to bleep and shriek at the pair of them. Keiji lost focus, turning his attention instead to the swamp that his ship had sunk further into and was almost fully submerged, and he dropped the stone. In a desperate attempt, he put down his other arm but felt his balance going.

"Concentrate!" Satoko shrieked as Keiji fell over and she landed on his stomach, winding him. He let out a groan as she shook her head at him, pushing herself to her feet.

Keiji jogged over to where Sho-2 was and he groaned, running a filthy hand, covered in grime from the planet's floor, through his hair to push it out of his face.

"Oh no... We'll never get it out now!"

"So certain are you." Satoko sat down and looked between Keiji and the pile of stones, "Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?"

"Master Satoko, moving stones around is one thing. This," he gestured to the ship, "is totally different!"

"No!" Satoko snapped, "No different! Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned."

With very little hope, Keiji rolled his eyes but gave a nod to her. "Alright, alright, I'll give it a try--"

"No!" She cut him off with a stern voice. "Try not. Do or do not. There is no try."

Keiji nodded and turned away from her as he focused everything he had on the ship. He swallowed the nervous lump in his throat before he extended a hand and closed his eyes, feeling the Force. Satoko's eyes widened and her ears picked up as the water around the ship started to bubble and it started to rise. Keiji's focus slipped again and Sho-2 let out a sad whine as the ship once again slipped under the water. He gasped, shaking his head as he flopped down on the grass next to Satoko, breathless.

"I can't," he whispered, "I-it's too big."

"Size matters not," her tone was much more gentle, "Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you?"

Keiji shook his head, exhausted and reaching the end of his patience. Satoko nodded to him, keeping her head up high where he lowered his.

"And well you should not, for my ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it and makes it grow. It's energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we," she leaned over and poked the defined muscle in Keiji's arms, "not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere! Yes! Even between the land and the ship."

Keiji shook his head as he stood up. Dirt covered his cheeks and arms, the bottom of his trousers were soaked, and his hair was a mess around his face.

"You want the impossible."

He walked past Satoko and pulled on his jacket as he shivered, leaning against a tree. Satoko sighed and closed her eyes, extending a hand out before her.

The water of the lake bubbled and Sho-2's pops and whistles stole Keiji's attention. Satoko lifted the ship up out of the water; weed and plants from the water were clinging to the undersides of it as Satoko lifted it well above the water. Keiji's jaw dropped as he watched her move it over to where he and Sho-2 were, setting it down on the solid ground before him. He touched the nose, not quite believing that it was really there, really out of the water.

"I don't believe it," he whispered to Satoko with wide eyes that searched her face. She nodded, eyes full of wisdom.

"That is why you fail."

* * *

In the midst of space, on one of the many star destroyers, the captain collapsed as he reached for his throat, trying to get air in. His body went limp and Vader walked past him, looking down at him with the cold mask blocking any emotions.

"Apology accepted, Captain Needa," he retorted with the hint of a smug smile on his face before he waved his hand and a pair of guards dragged the body out. He then approached the Admiral and stared him down.

"Lord Vader, our ships have completed their scan of the area and found nothing. If the Millennium Falcon went into light speed, it'll be on the other side of the galaxy by now."

"Alert all commands," the robotic voice responded, "Calculate every possible destination along their last known trajectory."

"Yes my lord, we'll find them."

"Don't fail me again Admiral," he snapped before he turned to go back to his own private chambers. The Admiral swallowed and nodded to himself before he ordered the other men to alert the commands and split the fleet up.

On the side of the ship, tucked out of sight, was the Millennium Falcon herself. Javier had his feet resting on top of the controls as he and Yuzuru did the closest thing they could to relaxing in their current situation. Sergei kept shooting him looks that Javier responded to with innocent faces, and Miki, as per usual, was worrying.

"Captain Solo!" She snapped, interrupting the comfortable silence, "This time you have gone too far!"

Sergei growled at her as Yuzuru and Javier exchanged a look.

"No I will not be quiet Sergei! Why doesn't anyone listen to me?"

"Fleet's beginning to break up," Javier pointed out, looking through the front window that showed the fleet of star destroyers. "Go back and stand by the manual release for the landing claw." He instructed his copilot.

"I really don't see how that is going to help," Miki kept talking as Sergei pushed past her to get out of the cockpit. "Surrender is a perfectly acceptable alternative in extreme circumstances." Javier caught Yuzuru's shudder at that idea and he gestured to the droid. "The Empire may be gracious enough--"

Yuzuru flicked the switch on the back of her neck and she went into low power mode, giving the pair of them respite from her talking. Javier gave Yuzuru his most grateful smile as the other gave one back full of relief.

"Thank you," Javier smiled and Yuzuru stood up, resting his arms on the top of the controls next to Javier.

"What do you have in mind for your next move?" Yuzuru asked, tilting his head at the other with the ghost of a smile on his face.

"Well, if they follow standard imperial procedure, they'll dump their garbage before they go to light speed and then we'll just float away."

"With the rest of the garbage," Yuzuru chuckled at the glare that Javier gave him for calling his beloved ship garbage. "Then what?"

"Well," Javier pushed himself up and started looking through the computer that cast a blue glow on his face, "then we've got to find a safe port somewhere around here. Any ideas?"

"Where even are we?"

"The Anoat system."

Yuzuru wrinkled his nose. "The Anoat system? There's not much there."

"No," Javier agreed as they kept going through the list. He paused, sitting up a little straighter. "Well, wait. This is interesting. Chan!"

"Chan system?" Yuzuru asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Javier laughed and patted his hand.

"No no, Chan isn't a system, he's a man. Patrick Chan. He's a card player, gambler, scoundrel." he gave Yuzuru a teasing grin, "You'd like him."

Despite himself, Yuzuru flushed pink and turned away from Javier. "Thanks."

"Bespin. It's pretty far but I think we can make it."

Yuzuru looked over Javier's shoulder to read the information. "A mining colony?"

"Yeah, a tibanna gas mine. Patrick conned somebody out of it. We go back a long way, Patrick and me."

"Do you trust him?"

"Nope," Yuzuru's heart dropped with fear but Javier flashed him a gentle smile to ease his nerves, "but he's got no love for the Empire, I can tell you that." He turned off the computer and the ship they were on started to move. Javier pressed the button to communicate with Sergei as Yuzuru shifted his weight so that he wouldn't fall over. "Here we go Sergei, stand by. Detach."

The ship came away from the star destroyer and Yuzuru's eyes widened as he saw the other garbage floating along with them in space. The destroyer, after dropping the stuff, then disappeared at light speed.

"You have your moments, Yuzuru patted Javier on the arm, "Not many of them, but you do have them."

He pressed a gentle kiss to the other's cheek before he settled himself back down in the passenger seat and buckled up his belt. It was Javier's turn to flush pink before he smiled to himself and started to follow the chart on their computer towards Bespin.

Unknown to Javier, another ship emerged from the garbage that had been dumped. The figure wearing a helmet who was piloting the ship followed after the Falcon and mapped their trajectory before looking at the possible ports they could be going to.

* * *

Sho-2 was settled on one side, watching as Keiji once again trained in a handstand position. This time Satoko, having learnt her lesson, was standing beside him instead of sitting on his foot. Several boxes of Keiji's things were around them and Satoko nodded to him.

"Concentrate." Several of the boxes were lifted off at once by Keiji. "Feel the Force flow." Sho-2 let out a few beeps of surprise as he was lifted up too by the Force and by Keiji. Satoko gave him a little smile, a much kinder one than any others, before she nodded to Keiji. "Good. Calm. Through the Force things you will see. Other places. The future. The past." Keiji closed his eyes as Satoko kept speaking to him, talking to him about the Force. "Old friends long gone."

Keiji gasped, eyes flying open. "J-Javi?! Yuzu?!"

His control slipped and the boxes dropped. Sho-2 let out a little scream as he fell but landed fine on his wheels. Keiji fell from his handstand, landing on his back with a wince, as Satoko shook her head at him.

"Control, control! You must learn control."

Keiji, still trying to get his head together, half sat up as he looked at the floor, not focusing on anything. "I-... I saw... I saw a city in the clouds..."

"Hmm," Satoko nodded as Keiji looked at her and sat up. "Friends you have there."

"They were in pain!"

"It is the future you see."

"The future?" Keiji whispered. The future? So it wasn't written yet? If he went he could help and change it? He could save them? He stood and rubbed at his forehead before he gave her an apologetic look. "Will they die?"

Satoko closed her eyes and stretched out with the Force, taking moments that felt like agonising hours to Keiji.

"Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."

Keiji nodded as his mind raced. In motion, in motion, not yet confirmed.

"I-I've got to go to them."

"Decide you must how to serve them best," Satoko kept her voice level and wise instead of turning it into an emotional plea to Keiji, "If you leave now, help them you could, but you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered."

Keiji nodded, chewing his lip as he pulled on his jacket. Sho-2 let out a bleep tinged with sadness as Keiji's mind raced.

* * *

The Millennium Falcon weaved her way through the peach coloured clouds that covered and surrounded the city over Bespin that his friend owned. Two other ships were escorting them somewhat as Javier let out an exasperated sigh at the person on the other end of the communicator he was talking through.

"No," he explained for the thousandth time, "I don't have a landing permit. I'm trying to reach Patrick Chan. A couple of blaster bolts were fired at the ship and Javier dodged them with the precise skills of an experience pilot. "Woah woah wait a minute let me explain!"

"You will not deviate from your present course," the voice down the other end crackled through and Yuzuru pushed himself to his feet, holding the back of Javier's chair.

"Rather touchy aren't they?" Miki commented, grating further on Javier's nerves.

"I thought you knew this person?" Yuzuru questioned and Javier held up a hand to him. Sergei growled something that made Javier flush and he shook his head, shrugging.

"That was a long time ago. I'm sure he's forgotten about that."

Still being escorted, Javier stuck to the rules and followed the other ships guiding around when the voice crackled through again.

"Permission granted to land on platform 3-2-7."

"Thank you," Javier rolled his eyes before he gave Yuzuru a flash of his winning smile. "Told you. Nothing to worry about. We go way back, Patrick and me."

"Who's worried?" Yuzuru muttered mostly to himself. His shoulders were tense and his back stiff, holding all of his panic and fear in his posture so that he could give the other a calm look.

Through the clouds, they approached a city that hovered over Bespin. Javier located the landing platform and he and Sergei landed the Falcon. Craving a change of scenery after being stuck in there for two weeks, Yuzuru followed Javier out a they descended the ramp and stepped out onto the empty platform waiting for them.

"Oh," Miki's surprise came through in her tone, "no one to meet us."

Yuzuru's eyes narrowed as he looked around. Hair on the back of his neck stood up and something didn't feel quite right to him. "I don't like this Javier."

The pilot sighed and stood next to him, hands on his hips. "Well, what would you like?"

"They did let us land," Miki pointed out and Yuzuru shrugged. Javier patted his shoulder in an attempt to help him release the tension.

"Look, don't worry. Everything's going to be fine. Trust me." The door from the platform into the main city opened up and a group of four led by a man with a black cape came out. Javier gave Yuzuru a triumphant smile. "See? My friend." He then crossed over to Sergei and tapped him on the shoulder. "Keep your eyes open, huh?"

In typical Javi fashion, he greeted the others with a bright smile and open arms, trying to put everyone at ease. His tone was light and friendly.

"Hey!"

"Why you slimy double crossing no good swindler." the man in the cape stopped before Javier and the two stared each other down, "You've got a lot of guts coming here after what you pulled."

Javier tilted his head to the side and pointed at himself with a similar expression to that of a kicked puppy. The man in the cape walked up to him with slow and deliberate steps before he grabbed Javier's arm and then pulled him into a hug, laughing with a brightness and lightness Javier hadn't heard for ages.

"How you doing you old pirate? So good to see you!"

The two started to catch up as most of the group was sent back inside. Sergei gave a roar of relief before he want to join Javier's side. Miki patted Yuzuru on the shoulder before she too went to join them.

"He seems very friendly," she remarked as Yuzuru pushed himself away from where he'd been leaning against the Falcon.

"Yes," he commented, voice dripping with sarcasm, "very friendly."

"What are you doing here anyway Javier?"

"Ah," Javi gestured behind him to the Falcon, "repairs. I thought you could help me out."

The smile dropped off Patrick's face and he gave Javier a little glower. "What have you done to my ship?"

"Your ship?" Javier raised an eyebrow at him. "Hey. Remember you lost her to me fair and square."

Patrick all but pushed past Javier and gave Sergei a bright smile too. "And how you doing Sergei? Still hanging around with this loser?"

Sergei let out a growl and Javier rolled his eyes when Yuzuru stepped out of Sergei's shadow. Patrick stared at him, mouth hanging open a little, as Yuzuru looked him up and down. Fierce dark eyes met Patrick's, and they almost appeared to burn into his soul.

"Hello, what have we here?" Like Javier, there was a switch that Patrick flipped to turn the charm on as he approached Yuzuru. "Welcome, I'm Patrick Chan. I'm the administrator of this facility. And who might you be?"

Yuzuru had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop himself laughing at Javier rolling his eyes behind Patrick's back.

"Yuzuru."

"Welcome Yuzuru," Patrick took hold of his gloved hand and placed a kiss to it, much to Javier's displeasure. The pilot slipped in, taking Yuzuru's hand from Patrick's.

"Alright alright, you old smoothie."

Patrick laughed and he and Javier soon fell into step like they always used to. Yuzuru and Sergei followed along just behind them and Miki took in every detail around them.

"So, what's wrong with the Falcon?"

"Hyperdrive," Javier's long standing grief with the hyperdrive made his words sluggish and irritated but Patrick just laughed.

"I'll get my people to work on her. That ship saved my life quite a few times; she's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy."

"A hunk of junk she is," Yuzuru whispered and Javier had to hold back his snigger.

"How's the gas mine?" Javier changed the topic as they headed inside, walking through the clean white interiors of the city, "Still paying off for you?"

Patrick shrugged. "Oh, not as well as I'd like. We're a small outpost and not very self-sufficient. I've had supply problems of every kind, I've had labour difficulties..." He trailed off and raised an eyebrow at Javier. The pilot next to him was laughing instead of being sympathetic. "What's so funny?"

"You, listen to you," Javier chuckled. "You sound like a business man or a responsible leader. Who'd have thought that, huh?"

"Seeing you Javi sure brings back a few things. But yeah, I'm responsible these days. It's the price you pay for being successful."

At the back of the group, Miki let out a little "oh!" of surprise when she saw a droid, built in a similar way but in silver instead of gold like she was, step out of a room.

"Nice to see a familiar face," Miki's tone was bright as the other droid looked her over.

" _E chu ta!"_

"How rude!" Little pops and squeaks came from inside and Miki turned her attention away from the rude droid towards the room. "That sounds like an R-2 or Sho-2 unit in there. I wonder if..." she walked in. "Hello?"

"Who are you?"

Miki held up her hands and backed away. "Oh my! I'm terribly sorry! I didn't mean to intrude. No no please don't--"

Miki didn't have time to finish her sentence as she was blasted to pieces. The door to the room closed off just as Sergei emerged to look for her.

* * *

Satoko watched with wide sad eyes as Keiji helped Sho-2 into his position in the ship before he started doing his checks.

"Keiji, you must complete the training!"

Keiji groaned and rubbed at his forehead, climbing down the ladder. "I just can't keep that vision out of my head. They're my friends! I've got to help them."

"You must not go!"

"But Javier and Yuzu will die if I don't!"

"You don't know that," Keiji looked around as Brian, glowing blue, stepped through the forest to stand beside Satoko, "for even Satoko cannot see their fate."

"But I can help them! I feel the Force!"

"But you cannot control it," Brian pointed out, "This is a dangerous time for you, Keiji, when you will be tempted by the dark side of the Force."

"Yes, yes," Satoko nodded, "To Brian, you listen. The cave. Remember your failure at the cave."

"But Master Satoko, I've learned so much since then. I promise to return and to finish what I've begun! You have my word."

"It is you and your abilities that the Emperor wants," Brian pointed out, "and that is why your friends are being made to suffer."

"And that is why I have to go."

"Keiji, I don't want to lose you to the Emperor the way I lost Vader."

"You won't," Keiji promised, eyes full of bright hope. Satoko inhaled sharply.

"Stopped they must be. On this all depends. Only a fully trained Jedi knight with the Force as his ally will conquer Vader and his Emperor. If you end your training now, if you choose the quick and easy path as Vader did, you will become an agent of evil."

"Patience," Brian emphasised.

"And sacrifice Javier and Yuzu?"

"If you honour what they fight for," Satoko met his eyes, "yes."

"If you choose to face Vader, you will do it alone." Brian added before he turned his face away. Keiji climbed up into his ship. "But Keiji, don't give in to hate. That leads to the dark side."

"Strong is Vader. Mind what you have learned. Save you it can!"

"I will," Keiji had to shout over the sounds of his engines, "and I'll return! I promise."

The ship took off, bathing the pair in the red lights on the back of the x-wing.

"Told you, I did. Reckless is he. Now matters are worse."

"That boy is our last hope."

"No," Satoko corrected Brian, "there is another."

* * *

In one of the rooms of the city, Yuzuru finished combing his hair before he sat down on one of the white seats. They'd been kind enough to give him a change of clothes, red unlike white that he usually wore, since the climate in the city didn't call for his snowsuit, and he'd finally got the chance to have a proper wash outside of Javier's ship. Used to diplomatic ships with more comfort features, the fresher on the Falcon was not ideal. Still, he couldn't get the thought out of his head that something wasn't quite right. The door opened up and Javier came in with a beaming smile.

"Ship's almost finished. Two or three more things and we're in great shape."

"The sooner the better," Yuzuru stood and crossed the room to Javier, "Something's wrong here. No one has seen or knows anything about Miki and she's been gone too long to have gotten lost."

Javier placed his hands on Yuzuru's shoulders and kissed the crown of his head. "Relax. I'll talk to Patrick and see what I can find out."

"I don't trust Patrick." Yuzuru let himself be guided onto a seat as Javier settled next to him.

"Well, I don't trust him either. But he is my friend. Besides, we'll soon be out of here."

Yuzuru studied Javier's face and raised his fingers, tracing the side of Javier's jawline and cheek. "Then you're as good as gone, aren't you?"

He lowered his eyes, and pulled Yuzuru into a hug, unable to answer his question, when Sergei came through the door with a growl and a box full of the pieces of Miki.

"What happened?" Yuzuru asked, standing up to look at the mess.

Sergei growled and Javier gave him a confused look. "You found her in a junk pile?"

"What a mess," Yuzuru rubbed the back of his neck, "Sergei, you think you can repair her?"

The wookie shrugged and Javier met Yuzuru's eyes.

"Patrick's got people who can fix her."

"Yeah, no thanks."

"Sorry," Yuzuru and Javier both turned to see Patrick standing with his smirk and cape in the doorway, "am I interrupting anything?"

Yuzuru chewed his lip and shook his head, slipping back into his trained diplomatic voice.

"Not really."

Patrick sighed and took Yuzuru's hand. "You look absolutely beautiful. You truly belong here with us among the clouds."

Javier bit his lip, trying so hard to mask his smile at the disinterested tone Yuzuru was using. He'd seen several gouges get rejected with that very same tone of voice.

"Would you join me for a little refreshment? Everyone is invited of course--... Are you having trouble with your droid?"

"No!" Javier offered Yuzuru his arm for his free hand, "no problem. Why?"

Patrick led them down the hallways, chatting to Javi with their easy and friendly tone.

"You see, since we're a small operation, we don't fall into the jurisdiction of the Empire."

"So you're part of the Mining Guild then?" Yuzuru asked, tone polite.

"No, not actually. Our operation is small enough not to be noticed. Which is advantageous for everybody since our customers are anxious to avoid attracting attention to themselves."

"But aren't you afraid the Empire's going to find out about this place and shut you down?"

"It's always been a danger that looms like a shadow over everything we've built, but things have developed that will ensure security." He stopped before one of the rooms and gave Yuzuru a look. "I've just made a deal that will keep the Empire out of here forever."

He pressed the button on the wall and Yuzuru went white as the door slid open. There, sitting at the head of the table, was Vader. Javier drew his blaster but it was pulled from his hand by the Force, sailing straight into his hand. Stormtroopers surrounded them from the other side.

"We would be honoured," Vader drew his words out deliberately, "if you would join us."

"I had no choice," Patrick explained with heavy emotions in his eyes. "They arrived right before you did. I'm sorry."

Javier slipped his hand into Yuzuru's checking to see if he could walk, before he met Patrick's eyes with his own that were filled with utter betrayal.

"I'm sorry too."

Javier helped Yuzuru into the room, keeping him between him and Sergei, before the troopers filtered in too and the doors closed behind them.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flying through the stars and across space, Keiji couldn't help but chew on his lip as he followed the navigation computer's instructions towards the City in the Clouds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! Welcome back to this story. This chapter is mean from start to finish! You have officially been warned! I've decided to change a couple of little bits here and there so there are extra things that aren't in the original film but I wanted to add them so you can have them. Thank you so much for reading this and I hope you're all safe xxx

Flying through the stars and across space, Keiji couldn't help but chew on his lip as he followed the navigation computer's instructions towards the City in the Clouds. The Chan system, that's what it had come up with, and his gut instinct, perhaps the Force, told him to go there. He couldn't get the vision of his friends suffering out of his head, no matter how hard the decision to leave had been and how much Sho-2 had let out quiet squeaks.

"No, Miki is with them," Keiji responded as he flicked several of the switches around him, "Just hold on Sho, we're almost there."

* * *

Sergei was shoved into a hexagonal cell with a sharp screeching of a whistle or siren ringing through it. Pillars stood around the vertices to support the ceiling and the grates across it, and Sergei growled up at them, letting out a sharp roar to whoever was listening up there to get them to shut off. After much incessant whining and growling, they finally stopped, even though Sergei could still hear them ringing in his ears and inside his head. The silence then was overwhelming and almost suffocating. With a quiet growl to break it, he settled down beside the box, containing the parts of Miki, that had been dumped on one of the makeshift benches. He fished around, picking up the torso piece that was covered in scratches and charcoal both from the droid's previous adventures and being blasted apart before he then attached the head, fiddling with the neck connection point.

"Im trbly srry. I dndt mn to intrddd. No no no please don't--"

Sergei fiddled with the connection point more, stopping the droid from spilling out the rapid and garbled words that she recounted from before she had been blasted to pieces. He tightened it again and twisted a dial around until her eyes lit again and she started to speak.

"No! Secret. Stormtroopers?" her head moved around like it would have done when she was normally functioning. "Here? We're in danger! I must tell the others!" She then finally took in her situation. "Oh no! I've been shot!"

In one of the rooms down the hallway to Sergei, Javier twisted and pulled against the restraints. He'd been strapped to a long piece of metal, like an enlarged metal plate, and it was connected, by a hinge near his feet, to a scanning grid used to detect the properties and purity of the frozen blocks of Tibanna gas in the mining work. Made up of exposed wires, chemical injectors, microsurgical vibroscalpels, diagnostic scanners, electroshock assembly, and several other probes, Javier's heart dropped to his stomach as the troopers tightened the restrained around his wrists and waists further. Vader himself walked in to oversee the operation and Javier's warm brown eyes met the cold and unforgiving black of the mask. Instead of the grid being lowered to the plate containing the sample, like it would have done under normal operation, Javier was lowered towards the exposed until they were centimetres away from his face. From what he'd heard whispered around the galaxy, and what little he'd managed to coax out of Yuzuru, the diagnostic scanners would be used to anticipate a loss of consciousness and the chemical injectors would keep him awake so that he would experience every measure of pain. Electric sparks began to fly and he closed his eyes, twisting and struggling against the restraints as his instincts fought to get away from the shocks that were getting ever closer. Watching on from beside him was Vader, surveying the make-shift device from what was around in the city and what they had. Not as elegant as an interrogation droid, it was still more than enough to cause Javier significant pain.

Lingering outside, Patrick chewed his nails near bloody as Javier's screams echoed out into the corridor. They died down for a moment as Vader stepped out but the moment the door slid shut behind him, they restarted with a renewed enthusiasm. Patrick followed him, blood boiling in his anger.

"Lord Vader--"

Vader walked straight past him, ignoring him, as he turned instead to the bounty hunter who had led them to the Falcon. "You may take Captain Fernandez to Jabba the Hutt after I have Takahashi."

"He's no good to me dead," the bounty hunter's voice was distorted behind his dark green and brown mask, and he matched Vader's pace down the corridor. Patrick followed behind them, temper about to boil over.

"He will not be permanently damaged."

"Lord Vader!" The man finally stopped and turned to look at Patrick. "What about Yuzuru and the Wookie?"

"They must never again leave this city."

"That was never a condition of our agreement, nor was giving Javier to this bounty hunter!"

The other kept his stance level and firm as he stared back at Patrick, watching as his temper cooled a little. "Perhaps you think you're being treated unfairly?" He responded as though he was talking to a petulant child.

Patrick lowered his gaze and shook his head, swallowing down the choice words he wanted to say. "No."

"Good." Vader snapped. "It would be unfortunate if I had to leave a garrison here. Now I'm off to tame a certain fiery prince's temper."

The doors to the lift he was in shut around him, cutting him off from Patrick, and the administrator of the facility cursed under his breath.

"This deal is getting worse all the time."

Up a floor, in the room directly above Javier's, Yuzuru also squirmed in restraints as he was strapped to a slab resembling a table. Like before, he turned pale when Vader entered the room but he held his nerve and his sharp brown eyes met the black of the helmet.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Interesting isn't it Prince? Last time I was the one asking the questions and getting no answers, and now the tables have turned."

"You're still the one doing the torturing so I don't see how the tables have turned."

"I haven't done anything to you yet." Vader pointed out and Yuzuru tugged against the restraints around his wrists, ankles, and slim waist. "I did say yet, Prince, don't give me that look."

Stormtroopers walked into the room carrying a tray of instruments that Yuzuru recognised all too well. His face turned even more pale and his eyes betrayed him, showing the fear that lay behind them; last time Yuzuru had kept up his impenetrable walls even through the use of the IT-0 droid. Had he been human, he might have smirked at how their last meetings had effected Yuzuru.

Like Javier, Yuzuru's screams rang out into the corridor and through the flimsy floor, meaning that Javier and Yuzuru could both hear each other.

* * *

Back down in the cell, Sergei had been allowed to have a screwdriver to try and put Miki back together. Fiddling with the circuits on the back of her torso, her arms had been connected and she was content with the little alterations Sergei was making.

"Oh yes, that's very good, I like that."

Sergei then knocked one little thing out of place and the light in her eyes flickered and dimmed. She was still operational; her limbs and head still moved around perfectly normally.

"Well something's not right because now I can't see!"

Sergei then adjusted the controls on the side of her neck and the lights in her eyes flickered back on, glowing orange and providing another source of light in the dreary and gloomy room.

"Oh, oh, oh, that's much better. Wait. Wait! Oh my! What have you done? I'm backwards!" In his haste to try and fix her, Sergei had accidentally put Miki's head onto her torso the wrong way around. "You flea-bitten furball! Only an overgrown mophead like you would be stupid enough--"

Sergei switched her off to stop her trying to hit him and he let out a whine of irritation as he set her half assembled torso down on the bench. One of the doors slid open and he looked up, eyes widening. Supported by two troopers, Javier was thrown into the room. His legs couldn't support him and he collapsed onto his knees on the floor before he fell forwards, limbs shaking and head pounding. Sergei rushed over to him and pulled him to his feet, supporting him with his strong grip. Javier, pale and disorientated, finally got enough control of himself and his limbs to meet Sergei's gaze.

"I feel terrible," he mumbled and Sergei led him over to one of the walls.

He pressed a button and it extended another slab out that he let Javier lie down on. The captain groaned, half from the pain and half with relief as he got to lie against the cool surface of the metal slab. His nerves were on fire and his shirt had small tears in it. His face had tiny little scorch marks running down his cheeks and he was positive he looked dreadful.

Another door opened but Javier didn't have the strength to look up. Sergei saw as a pair of troopers threw Yuzuru into the room and the younger stumbled, supporting himself with the wall to keep himself on his feet. He'd changed out of the red thing he'd been given and back into his high necked snow suit without the extra jacket on top. His limbs were trembling, even as he tried to hide it from Sergei, and he forced himself to cross the room and kneel down next to Javier with a poorly concealed wince. He stroked the other's curls, looking up at him with wide, questioning eyes.

"Why are they doing this?" he asked and Javier took in a long breath that hurt. Yuzuru's heart ached for him.

"I don't know. They never even asked me any questions."

Yuzuru placed a kiss to Javier's forehead when one of the doors hissed open again.

"Patrick," he whispered, helping the other to sit upright.

Two guards were with Patrick and the administrator had a grim look on his face. Javier, looking half dead, gave him the sternest glare he could muster. Yuzuru kept his hands on his shoulders to support him and Patrick looked between the three in the room.

"Get out of here Patrick--" Javier started but the other cut him off.

"Shut up and listen. Vader's agreed to turn Yuzuru and Sergei over to me."

"Over to you?" Javier raised an eyebrow at him and Yuzuru tightened his grip on Javier's shirt.

"They'll have to stay here, but at least they'll be safe."

"What about Javier?" Yuzuru asked, fixing Patrick with the glare he reserved for idiotic diplomats who couldn't negotiate their way out of a paper bag and yet had the audacity to talk down to him when he was eighteen in the Senate.

"Vader's giving him to the bounty hunter."

"Vader wants us all dead," Yuzuru hissed as all the pain from his experiences with him rose up inside of him. He forced them back down, not wanting to think about Alderaan when he had more pressing things to consider.

"He doesn't even want you at all!" Patrick cut off, matching Yuzuru's temper. "He's after somebody called, uh, Takahashi."

Javier's head snapped up and, as Yuzuru flinched back at the name, he sat more upright. "Keiji?"

"Lord Vader set a trap for him."

"And we're the bait," Yuzuru finished.

"Yeah, well, he's on his way."

Despite Yuzuru's protests, Javier stood up. Ignoring the pain still coursing through him, he walked up to Patrick, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Perfect. You fixed us all real good, didn't you? My friend."

Javier punctuated the word friend by giving Patrick a solid punch to the face, catching his cheek and sending him reeling back. Javier overbalanced and stumbled over, giving Patrick's guards a chance to start beating him. Yuzuru tripped over himself running across the room to pull Javier into a protective hug when Patrick stood up and pulled his cape on.

"Stop!" he ordered before he looked down at Yuzuru and Javier. "I've done all I can. I'm sorry I couldn't do better but I've got my own problems."

"Yeah," Javier pushed himself up, with a grimace, onto one arm, "you're a real hero."

Patrick's eyes flashed with rage before he and the two guards stormed out, leaving the three alone. With the adrenaline gone from him, Javier's pain returned tenfold and he groaned as he moved his arm just a little. Yuzuru helped him to sit upright and rubbed at his shoulder with an exhausted but amused smile.

"You certainly have a way with people," he teased as he and Sergei helped a struggling and squirming Javier back up onto the slab to lie down.

Yuzuru went to stand up but Sergei gave him a firm look. Javier still looked half dead, but Yuzuru didn't look much better even though he was putting up a front so that he could reassure Javier. Sergei helped to guide him over to the bench with Miki on it before he cleared it off, allowing Yuzuru to lie down.

"I'm fine," he whispered, glancing over to make sure that Javier didn't hear him. The other was still breathing, which Yuzuru was grateful for, but he still winced every now and then. Sergei looked at him, silently asking what happened.

"Nothing I couldn't handle," Yuzuru responded, averting his eyes to instead look at the wall, "I've dealt with worse."

"Course you have," Javier piped up and Yuzuru flushed bright pink even though the other couldn't see him. "Fucking hell Yuzuru, you've been through too much shit for a twenty-two year old."

"It's fine--"

"You don't have to pretend forever. You know you're allowed to not be okay, right?"

Yuzuru shook his head and curled up on the slab, hiding his face in his arms. Sergei looked between the pair of them and let out a quiet whine.

* * *

In one of the other rooms in the mining facility, Vader and several troopers stood around and observed as the gas collected was frozen in carbonite, ready to be scanned by one of the grids like the one Javier had been subjected to. The workers then set about with the modifications Vader wanted and he nodded to himself curtly.

"This facility is crude, but it should be adequate to freeze Takahashi for his journey to the Emperor."

"Lord Vader!" An admiral approached him with his back held firm and a smug look on his face. "Ship approaching. X-wing class."

"Good. Monitor Takahashi and allow him to land."

"Lord Vader," Patrick cut in, trying to keep his tone light and reasonable unlike before, "we only use this facility for carbon freezing. You put him in there, it might kill him."

"I do not want the Emperor's prize damaged. We will test it first on Captain Fernandez."

Patrick's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach as he watched the other go, ordering troopers to go and collect the trio from their cell. Javier was put in wrist binders and, after resting a little, could move much better on his own. Yuzuru pulled his arm out of the grip of one of the troopers and stuck close to Javier's side, glancing up at him with concern. Sergei had placed the pieces of Miki that he hadn't attached yet into a net that was slung over his shoulder along with the half assembled droid as he followed behind them. They came to stop on the platform and Javier scanned the rising plumes of smoke, the open hole in the platform, and Patrick's grim expression from next to him.

"If only you'd attached my legs," Miki whined from on Sergei's back, "I wouldn't be in this ridiculous position. Now remember Sergei. You have a responsibility for me, so don't do anything foolish."

Javier chewed his lip. "What's going on buddy?" He asked Patrick, sarcasm and venom lacing the last word.

"You're being put into carbon freeze," Patrick didn't have the energy to dress up the truth or pretend he felt anything that he didn't.

"What if he doesn't survive?" The bounty hunter asked Vader. Hearing it, Yuzuru's eyes met Javier's and they had a conversation between them in a few seconds without saying a word. "He's worth a lot to me."

"The Empire will compensate you if he dies. Put him in!"

Sergei let out a growl of displeasure and shoved away the guards who tried to come near him. Vader stopped the bounty hunter from blasting the Wookiee and Javier all but jumped in front of him, trying to calm him down.

"Stop! Sergei stop! Stop!"

"Yes, stop, please, I'm not ready to die!" Miki shouted as Javier locked his eyes on Sergei's.

"Hey! Hey! Listen to me Sergei!" The Wookiee whined but calmed down at stormtroopers slipped a pair of wrist binders onto him too. "This won't help me. Hey, come on. Save your strength. There will be another time." He nodded over to Yuzuru and gave the Wookie a stern look. "The prince. You have to take care of him." Yuzuru slipped behind the guards and moved to stand beside Sergei, trying to offer him comfort. "Do you hear me?" Javier continued, painstakingly avoiding looking at Yuzuru. "Huh?"

Sergei let out a roar of displeasure and reluctance but he nodded to Javier. The captain gave him a weak smile before he looked down and met Yuzuru's eyes. The younger's were wide, full of tears that he refused to let fall, and pain, and Javier couldn't hold himself back. They both leaned in and Yuzuru pulled Javier closer by the back of the neck, capturing him in a passionate kiss. Nothing was held back between them and it was only broken by the guards dragging Javier away from Yuzuru, positioning him on the centre of the platform that was to descend.

"I love you," Yuzuru confessed, eyes fixed on Javier's as the workers milled around the captain, adjusting his restraints. Javier nodded, maintaining the eye contact.

"I know."

As painful as it was, Yuzuru couldn't look away as Javier was lowered down. Sergei was letting out growls of pain and displeasure, and he could feel Patrick's eyes on him, but Yuzuru didn't care. All that existed was him and Javier. Even when he could barely see the top of his hair anymore, he wouldn't let himself break. One of the workers flicked a switch on the panel and Yuzuru couldn't bear it; he turned his face away and buried it in Sergei's side as a plume of the smoke came up from the hole Javier had disappeared into. He kept his head tucked in and, if Sergei felt a tear or two escape into it, he didn't say anything. A slab was removed from the gap and Yuzuru glanced up, eyes fixed on it as the workers moved it around. They pushed it over and it slammed onto the metal platform.

Yuzuru flinched back and, for the first time, Vader saw a tear running down the side of his face. He hadn't shed any after being subjected to an interrogation droid for hours. He didn't shed any when his home planet was obliterated in front of him. But then, when he was staring at the slab of carbonite with the man he loved encased in it, unsure of whether he was dead or alive, he did. Sergei raised his bound hands to give the other a comforting pat, but Yuzuru could tell he was suffering just as much. Both of them half turned away, getting closer to each other for comfort and giving Miki a perfect view as Patrick checked the vitals on the side.

"Oh, they've encased him in carbonite. He should be quite well protected, if he survived the freezing process that is."

"Well Chan, did he survive?"

"Yes he's alive," Yuzuru nearly collapsed in Sergei's arms at those words alone, "and in perfect hibernation."

"He's all yours bounty hunter. Reset the chamber for Takahashi."

"Takahashi has just landed, Lord." a guard spoke up and Vader nodded.

"Good. See to it that he makes his way in here."

Yuzuru and Sergei watched helplessly as the carbonite encased Javier was moved away from them. A guard tried to move Yuzuru but he flinched away, shuffling closer to Javier.

"Chan." Patrick looked up with narrowed and suspicious eyes at Vader. "Take the prince and the Wookiee to my ship."

Patrick glared at him, anger boiling over. "You said that they'd be left in the city under my supervision!"

"I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further."


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keiji landed on one of the free platforms, and an uneasy feeling churned in his stomach when he pressed the button for the doors and they opened without the need for Sho-2 to override the security codes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, happy Star Wars Day! (May the Fourth be with you, hehehe) I hope you're all staying safe. This chapter has THE BIG PLOT POINT at the end so I hope you're ready!!! This story is also nearly done, so thank you so much for reading this and I hope you like it xx

Keiji landed on one of the free platforms, and an uneasy feeling churned in his stomach when he pressed the button for the doors and they opened without the need for Sho-2 to override the security codes. He stepped in and the unease only grew as he found the corridors deserted. They were pristine white and silent, feeling almost sterile, and his grubby grey outfit contrasted them and didn't give him much space to hide. Sho-2 kept silent but followed behind him at a respectable distance, keeping close to the sides like Keiji was. The man kept his back pressed against one of the walls and drew his blaster with a shaking hand as he watched a group of the city workers along with a bounty hunter move a carbonite slab. Sho-2 bumped up behind him and they followed it out of curiosity. As Keiji made to go and follow it, the bounty hunter turned and fired his blaster at him, catching the wall beside his head and just narrowly missing his target. He ducked behind the wall, ducking out of the way of the blaster fire, and Sho-2 let out pops and squeaks of distress. Keiji felt something shift in the Force and, once the bounty hunter had lost interest in him and Sho-2, he followed after it.

Just down the corridor, Yuzuru felt the hairs on the back of his neck prick up. Sergei gave him a very strange look when he stopped walking to turn around before he was shoved and half dragged onward by the storm troopers marching them and Patrick towards Vader's ship to ensure that the Administrator took them to where they were meant to go. Patrick keyed in a code to the communication device on his wrist, half concealed under his cloak as he did so, as he kept walking with a firm mask of cold indifference on his face.

Keiji ducked around in the hallways and dodged from hiding place to hiding place. His shadow gave him away and one of the commanding officers with Patrick gestured for the group to keep going. A pair of the troopers stopped escorting the group and turned their fire on Keiji, who ducked out of the way before he returned his own precise shots. With Sergei in binders, the commanding officer grabbed Yuzuru's shoulders and tried to drag him away.

"KeijI!" He grabbed onto the door frame and fought against the officer holding him. "Keiji don't! It's a trap!" Keiji poked his head out around the corner as Yuzuru shook off the officer long enough to meet his eyes. "It's a trap!"

Keiji then ducked behind the wall to avoid getting a blaster bolt to the brain while Yuzuru was pulled off after Patrick and Sergei, getting a slap on the back of his head for his insolence. The troopers that he hadn't shot down lost interest in Keiji and went back to guarding the group that were to be taken to Vader's ship, leaving Keiji confused and alone in the hallway with Sho-2 again. He followed behind them, trying to work out the best way to go, when he stepped into a darkened room and the door shut behind him to stop Sho-2 following him.

Keiji realised he was on a platform when it rose up through the ground, bringing him up into the centre of a blue-lit room with smoke hanging in the air, making it hazy. The lights were off and there were several panels around him that he had no idea about what they did. Everything inside his head was going insane and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He kept one hand on his lightsaber as the panel he had come up through closed behind him, filling the empty silence with the scraping of metal on metal. He put his blaster away but kept holding onto the sabre when the lights around him came on.

"The Force is with you, young Takahashi," the familiar and distorted voice echoed around the room and Keiji turned to try and find the source. There, standing at the top of a set of stairs that overlooked the platform he was standing on, was Vader, "but you are not a Jedi yet."

With almost a morbid curiosity, Keiji ascended the stairs and came face to face with the man that he knew had brought the pain and suffering onto his friends that he'd felt. He ignited his blue lightsaber, lighting his face and casting the light onto the emotionless mask, as Vader ignited his own. The harsh red and blue lights clashed against each other and sent purple light onto their faces and mask. Keiji controlled his emotion and held his nerve as he stared down the blank and emotionless mask of Vader. Being younger, and taking the idea that a quick strike first was better than being on the back foot, Keiji swung for Vader. Their sabres clashed with an explosion of sparks as Vader parried the blow and pushed Keiji off. Undeterred, he went for it again and was shoved down onto the floor this time by the force from Vader when he parried the strike. Keiji brought himself to his feet, keeping the sabre out and ignited before him, and they clashed again in a duel. Vader kept on the defensive, matching every offensive move that Keiji threw at him with an equal and calm defensive move.

* * *

Out in the main corridors, the Imperial officers in the group with Patrick had their heads held high until they were surrounded by more city employees with blasters than they could handle. Patrick shoved the main officer, the one who had dragged Yuzuru along earlier, into the arms of one of them before he took the blasters from two of the guards and shoved them into Yuzuru's hands. He then disarmed the other pair of troopers before he gave a nod to one of the employees.

"Well done. Lock them in the security tower, and keep it quiet. Move."

And, just like that, Yuzuru, Patrick, Sergei, and Miki were left standing there in a now empty hallway. Yuzuru blinked at Patrick as utter shock and disbelief coloured his features.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"

"We're getting out of here," Patrick explained as he fiddled with the binders around Sergei's wrists. Miki perked up when she saw the retreating officers and troopers.

"I knew all along! It had to be a mistake."

"Do you think that after what you did to Javi, we're going to trust you?" Yuzuru snapped as the binders on Sergei were released and he went straight for Patrick's neck to choke him.

"I had no choice!" Patrick gasped out as he fought against the iron grip of the Wookiee before him.

"What are you doing?" Miki protested, "Trust him! Trust him!"

"Oh, we understand, don't we Sergei?" Yuzuru glared at Patrick as he was reduced to his knees by Sergei choking him, "He had no choice."

"I'm just trying to help!"

"We don't need any of your help," Yuzuru's bitterness and anger rose up in his voice and eyes as he looked down at Patrick like he used to look down at all those Senators who had underestimated him as a teenager.

Patrick choked something out and Sergei let out another growl of anger. Yuzuru glanced up at the Wookiee before his eyes softened and he frowned at Patrick.

"What?"

"It sounds like the start of Javi," Miki piped up and Yuzuru held up a hand.

"Sergei?"

The Wookiee loosened his grip enough for Patrick to get the air to talk and he choked out his words. "There's still a chance to save Javi at the east platform."

Yuzuru and Sergei exchanged a look before they all but dropped Patrick and took off towards the platform in question. The Administrator fell forwards and clutched at his neck, taking in gulps of air as he tried to catch his breath.

"I'm terribly sorry about all this!" Miki called out from where she was on Sergei's back, "After all, he's only a Wookiee!"

After taking in the air he needed, Patrick reached for the blaster on his belt before he pushed himself to his feet and ran after the group towards the east platform. Yuzuru slipped back and let Patrick take the lead as he covered for him, with Sergei covering him despite his protests.

_Javi told me to take care of you_ his responding growls were firm and, even with Yuzuru's stubborn nature, he could tell when he wasn't going to win the fight.

They raced around on the balconies that ran around the edges of the city buildings, lit by the pale pinks and oranges of the sunset, and the group ran around on it when a familiar set of squeaks and beeps caught Miki's attention.

"Sho-2! Sho-2! Where have you been?" She asked when Sergei turned around to see the source of the noise. "Wait! Turn around you woolly--"

He cut off her insult by running after Yuzuru, and Sho-2 joined their group, bleeping his questions to Miki in a flurry.

"Hurry! Hurry! We're trying to save Javier from the bounty hunter."

Sho-2 responded with several squeaks, filling her in about how he was nearly eaten on Dagobah and she waved a hand around.

"Well, at least you're still in one piece! Look what happened to me!"

Patrick entered the security code to the door leading to the east platform and, being the shorted, Yuzuru was the first one through it when it started to open. His heart stopped as they were seconds too late and he had to watch as the bounty hunter's ship took off. His dark eyes followed it as it grew smaller and smaller in the air, and it took every ounce of his mental strength to not fall apart then as Javier was ripped away from him a second time and the tiny glimmer of hope died.

"Oh no!" Miki shrieked, "Sergei, they're behind you!"

It took getting the tip of his ear caught by a blaster bolt to shock Yuzuru out of it, and he, Patrick, and Sergei ducked against the sides of the building, poking their heads out only to aim at the troopers trying to get them. When they had taken both of them out, Patrick led the way into the city again and they dashed off, running towards the platform with the Falcon on it.

* * *

Keiji stumbled back a little as Vader pushed him, still playing defensively against Keiji's offense.

"You have learned much, young one," the older said in the distorted and raspy voice as he kept his sabre raised but looked past it to focus on Keiji.

"You'll find I'm full of surprises," he quipped back before he went for Vader's head, getting intercepted.

Keiji then tried to swipe out the other's legs while distracting him with his sabre but all that happened was his weapon was knocked from his hands. He jumped out of the way of the next swing that was aiming for him and tumbled down the stairs with a groan, forcing himself to strand and face Vader who had jumped from the stairs and landed before him.

"Your destiny lies with me, Takahashi. Brian knew this to be true."

"No."

Keiji kept shuffling back to maintain the distance between them while he was defenceless, but he tumbled into the opening of the carbon freezing chamber. With a smirk, Vader used the Force to flick the switch of the controls but, while he was distracted, Keiji jumped up and clung to the ropes and tubes from above. To him, it was just like when he'd been training in the vines of Dagobah with Satoko guiding him, and he could almost hear her guiding him now.

"All too easy," Vader mused to himself as the chamber filled with the smoke and plumes of it came out, adding to the haze in the air, "Perhaps you are not as strong as the Emperor thought."

It was only Keiji's shuffling around that caused a clattering that alerted Vader to him.

"Impressive," he mused as he watched Keiji. He swung for him and missed, cutting one of the tubes of cooled carbon. "Most impressive."

Keiji flipped down and took the cut tube. He directed it into Vader's face to cut him off and distract him while he brought his sabre back to his hand using the Force. Surrounded by a haze of the smoke, the blue and red lights of their sabres cut through it and illuminated their face as they clashed again in another duel.

"Brian has taught you well. You have controlled your fear."

Keiji parried the two strikes Vader made at him but the older still held the cards.

"Now," he continued, "release your anger. Only your hatred can destroy me."

Keiji brought out all that he had learned with Satoko and he shifted to the defence as Vader took control. He parried the blows and then jumped past him, summoning energy from the Force to help him dance circles around his opponent to try and confuse him. Vader, much more experienced, was not phased by his antics and matched his every blow with a block of his own as more smoke filled the room, making it harder to see the black of his armour or the grey of Keiji's jumpsuit; the light of their sabres was the only thing to really cut through the haze. Keiji's offense managed to push Vader towards the edge of the platform and he fell off it into the depths below, leaving Keiji standing above it with his sabre still ignited. He looked down in confusion and used the blue light to try and see but to no avail. Taking a deep breath, he withdrew his sabre and jumped down himself. He pressed a button on a panel next to a metallic grate that then slid open, revealing a tube to him. He stepped in and the whole thing lit up before he stepped out into the next room, an analysis room, and the hallway was sealed off behind him. A large circular window was on one side and scan grids as well as probes and other analytical pieces of equipment were scattered across the room out of carelessness. He could hear the mechanical breathing of Vader and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he scouted the room, freezing when he saw him approaching at a measured pace with his lightsaber ignited. Keiji ignited his own but Vader was done playing around. Compared to Keiji, he had a masterful knowledge of the Force and was prepared to show it off. Pieces of equipment from around the room and on the walls were thrown at Keiji who rolled away from some of them, tried to cut them into pieces with his sabre, and had to defend himself, all while still duelling Vader. He was easily overpowered; his knowledge of the Force was like a baby's compared to the other's. Piece of equipment hit him and one broke the window, pulling on Keiji as he tumbled out of it and ended up clinging onto a metal bridge with his fingertips. He pulled himself up and panted, trying to catch his breath.

* * *

Yuzuru, despite having grown up as a senator on a peaceful planet with no weapons, was very good with a blaster. He hit a pair of troopers dead before he ran into the lift with the others and they stepped out on another floor. Patrick tried one of the doors and hissed in irritation.

"The security code has been changed."

Yuzuru and Sergei exchanged a look while Miki piped up with a bright idea.

"Sho-2! you can tell the computer to override the security systems!"

The little droid looked at the input terminal and a compatible part came out. Patrick, standing above Shoma, typed in another code, and picked up the intercom that could broadcast to the entire city.

"Attention, this is Patrick Chan. Attention. The Empire has taken control of the city. I advise everyone to leave before more Imperial troops arrive."

Sho-2 inserted the complementary part when sparks started to fly and he let out a screech. Sergei pulled him away and the droid beeped at Miki with irritation.

"Don't blame me!" She snapped as they ran to a different door, following Patrick, "I'm an interpreter. I'm not supposed to know a power socket from a computer terminal."

After Patrick's announcement, the entire city was thrown into chaos and people were running about the corridors screaming. Patrick guided Yuzuru and Sergei to the next door along, to their landing platform, and they nearly collapsed with relief when they saw the computer terminal. Sho-2 started to override the computer while the other three covered for him, blasting back at the troopers who tried to blast the little droid.

"We're not interested in the hyperdrive on the Falcon!" Miki snapped as Sho-2 relayed information to her. "It's fixed! Just open the door you stupid lump!"

With one more crude remark back to her, Sho-2 opened up the door and allowed them to run out towards the ship.

Patrick pulled Yuzuru with him and they took cover by the entrance of the Falcon as Sergei climbed on with Miki and Sho-2.

"Yuzuru! Go!"

The prince looked almost internally torn but he ran up onto the ship as Sergei got her ready for takeoff and Patrick ran in too, slipping into the pilot's seat next to Sergei.

"I thought that hairy beast would be the end of me," Miki commented Sho-2 pulled the netting with her parts in it into the main open space in the Falcon. He let out little beeps and snickers. "Of course I've looked better!"

With troopers still firing at them, the Falcon took off from the city and Yuzuru gave Patrick a firm glare before he fell into Javier's captain seat beside Sergei, leaning his head in his hands as the co-pilot took over for him.

* * *

Keiji walked along the bridge and looked out at his surroundings with a grimace. The only thing separating him from a long fall down was a thin metal railing. He kept a hand on his sabre as he investigated, ducking down as Vader swiped for his head. The tides truly had turned and Keiji was pushed to the end of the railing on the offensive. He was thrown down onto the ground and the tip of Vader's sabre got too close to him for comfort.

"You are beaten. It is useless to resist. Don't let yourself be destroyed as Brian did."

Keiji brought a strike up and caught Vader off guard enough to get back up to his feet. He then caught Vader's shoulder with his sabre and the older had had enough. Keiji darted away from him and climbed over the railing until he was on the very last part of the structure, corner. Vader swung for him and then circled around his sabre, cutting through his wrist and his hand came clean off. Keiji crumpled, holding on with his left hand, as his sabre tumbled down into the depths of the city below the structure he was on.

"There is no escape," Vader looked down on him with his sabre still drawn. "Don't make me destroy you."

Keiji pushed himself away, keeping his right arm tucked into himself as much as he could, and he made it to the very edge of the structure.

"Keiji. You do not yet realise your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me and I will complete your training. With our combined strength we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy."

"I'll never join you!"

"If you only knew the power of the dark side. Brian never told you what happened to your father."

"He told me enough!" Keiji snapped. "He told me you killed him."

"No. I am your father."

Keiji stared at him and his whole world felt like it was about to crumble. He shook his head, almost begging and pleading with the galaxy for it not to be true.

"No. That's not true. That's impossible!"

"Search your feelings. You know it to be true."

Keiji shrank down in on himself, holding onto the edge of the structure for dear life as the realisation and the weight of the truth hit him full force.

"Keiji. You can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son."

Keiji looked up for a moment, eyes flicking to Vader's outstretched hand, before he looked down at the fall below him.

"Come with me. It is the only way."

Keiji made eye contact with the place in the mask where the eyes would have been as he let go of the metal structure and tumbled off it backwards, falling into the gaping chasm.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tumbling down, Keiji thought he was going to die when he hit the bottom, but the gravity around him changed and he was sucked into one of the air vents on the sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we are at the end! Thank you so much to everyone who has read and supported this story! Of course, there will be a part 3 to come but I haven't decided if I'll take a little break between them or not. ANYWAY! Thank you so much for reading this and I hope you're all safe xx

Tumbling down, Keiji thought he was going to die when he hit the bottom, but the gravity around him changed and he was sucked into one of the air vents on the sides. Sliding down the silver tubing, air rushed about past his ears, hair, and face, and he settled in the low point of the tube, still cradling his right arm to his chest. As he shifted his weight around, the tubing registered him as a blockage in the air vent and a trapdoor opened up beneath him, dropping him down into another tube that led out to the very bottom of the city. Keiji tumbled down it and landed hard on a metallic structure that hung underneath the city. Above him, the opening closed up, leaving Keiji to hang there with one hand. The clouds beneath him concealed the depth of the drop, but the fall to Bespin would not have been a comfortable one. He held onto the structure as tightly as he could with his left hand and all the strength seemed to leave him; it was all he could do just to sit there.

“Brian,” he whispered, hoping that the older could still hear him through the Force, “Brian, please.” Nothing happened. All he could hear was the wind whistling around past his ears, and his head pounded. “Yuzu,” he whispered, hoping that Yuzuru would be able to feel him, “Please, please hear me Yuzuru.”

On the Falcon, skimming through the clouds, Yuzuru went rigid in Javier’s seat. It was like a bucket of ice-cold water had been poured down his spine, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Patrick and Sergei both stared at him as he sat there unblinking, focusing on the internal tug that he felt. It was like Keiji was sitting there, sitting in the cockpit with them, asking for Yuzuru to come back to him. And, strangely enough, Yuzuru knew exactly where to go to get to Keiji.

“Keiji,” he whispered almost as if he was in a trance. He blinked himself out of it and cleared his throat as he turned to the others. “We’ve got to go back.”

“What?” Patrick asked, looking at him like he was insane. Sergei let out a questioning growl and Yuzuru chewed on his lip.

“I know where Keiji is.”

“What about those fighters?” Patrick protested and Yuzuru earned a sharp growl of protest from Sergei.

“Sergei, please, just do it.”

“But what about Vader?” Patrick stood up to protest but Sergei, seeing the exhaustion and fleeting hope in Yuzuru’s eyes, turned and snarled at him. He held up his hands, backing away from the co-pilot. “Alright, alright, alright.”

Sergei turned the Falcon around and they skimmed across the clouds, heading towards the city with Yuzuru’s intuition acting as their guide. Another feeling bubbled up, one that made him feel almost nauseous inside. Vader, he could almost see Vader as well. He tried to force the image of him going back to his imperial cruiser, ready to board his Stardestroyer, out of his mind, and instead he forced himself to keep focused only on Keiji.

The light from the sunset was rapidly dimming, and the temperature was starting to drop. Keiji shivered, holding tighter onto the scaffolding, when his heart swelled with relief and he heard the familiar sounds of his favourite piece of junk.

“Someone’s up there,” Patrick leaned over Yuzuru to get a better look at the figure clinging onto the metallic structures that came from the bottom of the city. Yuzuru’s heart leapt up into his throat and he nodded with the ghost of a smile.

“It’s Keiji. Sergei, slow down.” His tone turned into the same one he used when giving the Rouges their instructions back in the Alliance, or when he’d had to direct the conversation in the Senate. “Slow down, and we’ll get under him. Patrick, open the top hatch.”

Patrick left the cockpit and stepped up onto the platform. Pressing several buttons, he started to rise up. He clipped the hook on his belt to one of the hooks on the wall up the shaft and it opened up the top levels, exposing Patrick to the air underneath the city. Looking down, Keiji let go of the scaffolding structure and fell into Patrick’s arms. They lowered back down just as three imperial fighters caught sight of them and turned to give chase.

“Patrick?” Yuzuru called down the intercom.

“Alright, let’s go!” His voice crackled back and the others didn’t need to be told twice. Sergei hit for the speed and they speed across the clouds with the three fighters on their backs.

Patrick led Keiji into the cockpit, and Yuzuru met him at the doorway, pulling him into a tight hug. Each took in the state of the other while Patrick took over in Javier’s seat, much to Yuzuru’s displeasure, however he had other things to worry about. Yuzuru wrapped him up in a blanket and led him towards the back where several beds were. The ship was rocked about, shaken around by the blaster bolts that were fired from the fighter towards them, and Yuzuru wired Keiji up to the crude but functioning medical equipment on the Falcon. When a particularly hard jolt meant his head smacked into the side of the equipment, Yuzuru grimaced before he placed a kiss on Keiji’s cheek.

“I’ll be back,” he promised as he slipped out, back towards the cockpit. Patrick and Sergei barely gave him a glance; they were much too focused on directing the ship, when Yuzuru’s eyes narrowed as he looked out of the front. “There’s a Stardestroyer.”

Sergei directed them away from it, trying to shake the fighters off their tail while Yuzuru clambered around the cockpit like Javier would have done, setting in the coordinates of the rendezvous point into the computer and the Falcon. He tripped as the whole ship was shaken up again, and Patrick glanced back at him for Yuzuru’s affirmative nod.

“Alright Sergei, ready for light speed.”

“If your people fixed the hyperdrive,” Yuzuru’s tone was cold and scathing, and he sat in the passenger seat behind Sergei instead of the one he normally took behind Javier’s seat. “All the coordinates are set. It’s now or never.”

“Punch it!” Patrick’s eyes were fixed on the sky around them as Sergei reached for the controls.

Their hearts all sank as they heard the painful sounds of the Falcon’s engines stalling. Yuzuru and Sergei exchanged a look of frustration, hinted with terror on Yuzuru’s part, before they turned their ice-cold glares onto Patrick. The ship was blasted around and Yuzuru was all but thrown around as Sergei threw a fit, growling at Patrick in anger.

“They told me they fixed it.” He defended as Yuzuru flopped back into his regular seat, head in his hands. “I trusted them to fix it! It’s not my fault!”

Patrick all but threw himself around in the cockpit to start flicking at switches as Sergei stormed out, leaving Yuzuru and Patrick there. Yuzuru inhaled sharply and his gaze darkened.

“Listen to me and listen well. I am not going back into the hands of the Empire, clear?” Yuzuru’s eyes could have cut Patrick with their sharp gaze alone, “Not again. So, fix this mess and do it quickly.”

* * *

On the destroyer, Vader turned to one of his admirals.

“Did you deactivate the hyperdrive on the Millennium Falcon?”

“Yes sir. They’ll be in range of our tractor beam in moments Lord.”

“Good. Prepare the boarding party, and set your weapons for stun.”

* * *

Back on the Falcon, Sergei resumed the position he normally had: repair man. Miki and Sho-2 were sitting in the main part of the ship together with Sho-2 welding her back together, and they watched the scene unfolding with barely veiled curiosity that Miki tried to hide behind disgust.

“Noisy brute. Why don’t we just go into light speed?”

Sho-2 beeped back at her as he finished attaching one of her legs. Miki turned her gold head towards him before she shook it in disbelief.

“We can’t? How would you know that the hyperdrive is deactivated?”

Sho-2 let out another series of beeps.

“The city’s central computer told you? Sho-2 D2, you know better than to trust a strange computer.” Just for that, Sho-2 zapped a circuit in the wrong place. “Ouch! Pay attention to what you’re doing!”

Sparks were flying in the cockpit as Yuzuru had taken over steering in Sergei’s seat and Patrick was rushing around trying to repair everything in the cockpit. The prince directed them away from the Stardestroyer but, inside, he knew it was futile. Without light speed, they couldn’t outrun it, and he wasn’t skilled enough as a pilot to dodge the attacks from the fighters forever. Keiji was a much better pilot, but he had just suffered monumental injuries; Yuzuru was not going to force him to fly the ship in that state. When they came close to the Stardestroyer, Keiji felt a shiver down his spine.

“Keiji.”

“You’re not my father,” he whispered.

“Son. Come with me.” Vader’s voice echoed through his head and Keiji looked down at his missing hand with a grimace.

“Brian. Why didn’t you tell me?”

When the ship was shaken again, using his good left hand, Keiji pulled himself up out of the bed.

The cockpit was frantic and Yuzuru rolled his eyes as Patrick pressed the button for the intercom.

“Sergei?!”

The co-pilot let out a growl of irritation and Yuzuru rubbed his forehead, already so overwhelmed by everything going on that the very notion he might end up suffering again at the hands of Vader was nearly enough to send him into a fit of tears. Somehow, he held himself together, particularly when Keiji stepped into the cockpit with his arm wrapped up to stop any further damage until they could get to the Alliance.

“It’s Vader,” Keiji whispered as he sunk down into the seat behind Sergei’s that Yuzuru had taken over. The weight of everything hit him and Yuzuru reached out to pat his shoulder for comfort.

Out where Sergei was in the ship, Sho-2 abandoned Miki and wheeled past the opening in the floor that Sergei was working in to go to one of the control panels. The activation switches for the hyperdrive where there; not that Miki knew that.

“Sho-2 come back at once!” She called, holding her the lower part of her leg that he still hadn’t attached, “You haven’t finished with me yet! You don’t know how to fix the hyperdrive. Sergei can do it. I’m standing here in piece, and you’re having delusions of grandeur!”

Sho-2 ignored her and started to fiddle with the switches, reconnecting the deactivated ones. After reconnecting all of them, the drive turned from red to blue and the computer registered the coordinates that had been put in. Sho-2 screeched as, due to the speed of the ship, he was thrown backwards and on top of Sergei. In the cockpit, Yuzuru fell backwards into the co-pilot seat and Patrick splatted into the door with an undignified groan as they shot off at light speed, seconds away from being in the tractor beam’s grip.

Travelling at light speed made the journey a fraction of the time and, very soon, they arrived to where the fleet was massing. Sho-2 had fixed up Miki, and Sergei and Patrick directed the ship to the bridge that linked it to the medical ship. Yuzuru helped Keiji out and he was instantly swept up by medics and, while Yuzuru tried to brush them away from him and direct them towards Keiji, Sergei persuaded some of Yuzuru’s higher ranking generals that he needed to be checked over too. Keiji’s wrist was numbed with anaesthetic as a robotic hand that looked like his own externally was fitted, and his mind was already so foggy that he couldn’t focus on very much without the anaesthetic. Sergei ushered everyone out of Yuzuru’s room, except the medics and medical droids, and the prince grimaced at the displeased sounds they made when they checked over his back and vitals. It was a mess; it had to be. The probes had not been precise or medical grade as they were designed for sampling rocks or gases from the mining colony and not interrogation. 

“Captain Fernandez?” One of the medics asked after they had cleaned up everything for Yuzuru and wrapped dressings around the worst of it, tone light and gentle, but Yuzuru couldn’t take it. It all just became too much for him, and he couldn’t stop himself from tearing up. The medics were stunned as their unbreakable prince curled up on one of the beds and sobbed into his arms. When he finally gained enough composure, he explained it all to the higher ups. They nodded gravely before they offered their words of sympathy and turned to go, leaving just Yuzuru and one of the ladies in white with the medics.

“We’re to scatter the fleet imminently and, with the forces spread throughout the galaxy, we’ll be able to gather more information and it’ll reduce the chances of us all getting caught at once. And then, after that, we will mass when he have the information to attack. The spies are doing all they can Yuzuru, but it will definitely take time. This cannot turn into a personal war of revenge. We have all been wronged by the Empire but we must not let the personal thirst for vengeance take over and interrupt carefully laid plans. But, Yuzuru, for now, please do not burden yourself with the matters of the Alliance.” Yuzuru raised his head, meeting the soft brown eyes of the blonde lady sitting beside his bed with questions in his eyes that she quelled by holding up her hand. “You make the Alliance proud every day, Yuzuru, by representing our cause and by doing your duty. But duty won’t give you comfort, and you especially need that. The comfort of friend, and of love. You were your parent’s greatest joy, Yuzuru. The love you shared with them was what sustained them through the dark years. Don’t deny yourself another chance at love because of what the Empire did to them. Don’t give Nikolai that victory, too.”

“But, Carolina, you need—”

“You need this.” She cut him off with a gentle authority that he listened to. “Yuzuru, you will never forgive yourself if you don’t go. Yes, having you there for the final operations would be useful, but we cannot do anything for now. But you can do this for him. For yourself.”

Yuzuru looked up at her, vulnerable and unconvinced, and she gave him a light and gentle hug. She’d read over his medical notes; she knew what had happened and what to avoid.

“Are you feeling up to visitors?”

He shook his head and she nodded in understanding.

“You can always talk to me if you need Yuzuru. Remember that.”

Yuzuru gave her a weak smile and she left, sending away Patrick and Sergei who were waiting outside his private room for any update. Yuzuru changed out of the medical thing they’d made him wear into a looser outfit of white that was so similar to traditional Alderaan clothes it made his heart ache for his two greatest losses. After stewing everything over in his heart, Yuzuru slipped out of his room, past the officers who gave him questioning looks, and made his way into Keiji’s room. The other gave him a little smile and Yuzuru stood by the window, looking out at the bridge where Sergei and Patrick had headed to board the ship.

“Hold on. Yuzuru’s come in here if you want to talk to him,” Keiji said down the communicator.

Sergei ran back from the ship to give the prince a tight hug and growled quiet words of encouragement to him. It hurt both of their hearts to part, but they had to eventually so that Sergei could return to the ship. Yuzuru went back to looking out and Keiji just gave him a weak smile.

“Keiji,” Patrick’s voice crackled through the communicator from the cockpit, “we’re ready for take-off.”

“Good luck Patrick.”

“When we find Jabba the Hutt and that bounty hunter, we’ll contact you.”

“I’ll meet you at the rendezvous point on Tatooine,” Keiji responded and he met Yuzuru’s eyes, asking him silent questions.

_Will you help us?_

_Yes. I’m getting him back too. I have to._

“Prince,” Yuzuru turned his attention back towards Patrick’s voice that was coming from the communicator, “we’ll find Javi. I promise.”

Yuzuru’s eyes lowered and Keiji kept speaking. “Sergei, I’ll be waiting for your signal. Take care, you two. And may the Force be with you.”

Sergei let out a little growl that echoed around the cockpit and into the communicator, bringing a smile to Yuzuru’s face and making Keiji chuckle. He put down the communicator and picked up a pin from the table. He poked his right index fingertip with it and flinched. The hand flinched with him. He tried it on one of the other fingers and grimaced. He could feel it. He could feel the pain even though it wasn’t his actual hand. He moved around the fingers and thumb, testing out the mobility, before he sealed up the joint at the wrist that held the strings and wires that made the movement possible. Once it was closed up, he stepped over to where Yuzuru was. The shorter looked up at him and Keiji pulled him into a one-armed hug, letting him rest his head on his shoulder. They looked out into the darkness of the galaxy before them with both droids next to them, and Keiji was careful where on Yuzuru’s shoulder he put his hand. Alliance ships passed by the windows and they watched as the Falcon set off, disappearing into the distance before it sped off at the speed of light towards Tatooine.


End file.
